A case was opened against a St. Petersburg woman for discrediting the army because of Shevchenko’s poem

Daria Kozyreva was detained for pasting an excerpt from his famous poem onto the Shevchenko monument.

On February 24, 2024, 18-year-old Daria Kozyreva was detained in St. Petersburg. It was alleged that a protocol would be drawn up against her under Part 1 of Art. 19.3 of the Administrative Code (disobedience to a lawful order of a police officer), however, on February 26 it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Kozyreva under Part 1 of Art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code (repeated discrediting of the use of the Russian armed forces). The next day, the Petrogradsky District Court chose a preventive measure for her in the form of detention.

The reason for the persecution of Kozyreva was the fact that she pasted a sheet of paper with an excerpt from his famous poem “Testament,” written in 1845, onto the monument to Taras Shevchenko.

Law enforcement agencies have previously made claims against Kozyreva. On December 19, 2022, Kozyreva, a minor at the time, was detained after an inscription accusing the Russian authorities of destroying the city appeared on the “Double Hearts” installation dedicated to Mariupol on Palace Square. A protocol was drawn up in her regard under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), but the commission for minors never examined it. At the same time, due to damage to the monument, on January 17, 2023, a criminal case was opened against Kozyreva for vandalism (Article 214 of the Criminal Code), which was then reclassified as intentional damage to property (Part 1 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code): it was alleged that she had inflicted damage on the owner of the installation, LLC "Yarkiy Gorod", damage of more than 250 thousand rubles. However, no investigative actions were taken in this case.

In the summer of 2022, a protocol was again drawn up against Kozyreva under Part 1 of Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code, when she and a young man were detained in the Patriot Park in Kronstadt, where they were tearing off the letters Z and V from military equipment. Kozyreva, again, was not punished, although her companion was fined 30 thousand rubles.

In addition, the protocol under Part 1 of Art. 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (petty hooliganism) was drawn up against her for attempting to disrupt the recruitment announcement for contract service, but this protocol was not considered either.

On December 21, 2023, the Moscow District Court fined Kozyreva, who had reached the age of majority, 30 thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 20.3.3 Code of Administrative Offences. The reason was a long text that she published on VKontakte on March 4, 2022. Kozyreva criticized the introduction of criminal liability for the dissemination of “fakes” about the actions of the Russian armed forces and called the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine an “imperialist war” that is being waged in the name of the interests of “bourgeois bosses,” by which Kozyreva understands the ruling classes of both sides of the conflict. After being brought to justice, Kozyreva was expelled from St. Petersburg State University.

From our point of view, the introduction into legislation of a ban on discrediting the actions of the Russian armed forces and government agencies abroad was an unjustified restriction of the right to freedom of expression, designed to suppress criticism of the political course of the authorities. Therefore, we consider prosecution under the relevant articles for statements that do not contain direct calls for violence to be unlawful. Although Taras Shevchenko in his poem called for the fight for the freedom of the Ukrainian people, it is unlikely that his words in themselves should be considered incitement to violence in modern conditions. Moreover, it is unclear what relation the Shevchenko monument and his poem have to the actions of the Russian armed forces and how they are discredited.

. Sources

• 18-year-old St. Petersburg resident Daria Kozyreva was sent to a pre-trial detention center until April 25 for “repeatedly discrediting the army” // SOTA. Telegram. 2024. February 27.
• An 18-year-old girl was detained in St. Petersburg; she is charged with a criminal article about discrediting the army // OVD-Info. 2024. February 26.
• Lawyer Vladislav Sosensky denied information about a criminal case against Daria Kozyreva because of the leaflet // MR7.ru. 2024. February 25.
• Because of the inscription on the installation, a criminal case was opened against a St. Petersburg woman in January for damage to property // OVD-Info. 2023. December 16.
• Administrative violation case file No. 5-1895/2023 // Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg. 2024. January 30.