Fine for Svarogov square on a car in the Ryazan region

Andrey Lotsmanov was found guilty under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offences.

On April 3, 2024, the Shilovsky District Court of the Ryazan Region fined local resident Andrei Lotsmanov one thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code (public display of symbols of an extremist organization).

The reason for the persecution was a sticker with a Svarogov square, which Lotsmanov pasted on the back door of his car. The court decided that this is a symbol of the nationalist organization Northern Brotherhood, which was recognized as extremist in 2012. The motorist at the meeting said that he did not know that the symbol he had pasted was a Svarogov square, and said that he had removed the sticker.

From our point of view, punishment for displaying prohibited symbols should only be carried out in cases where it concerns the propaganda of the corresponding ideology. There are no arguments in favor of the fact that Lotsmanov propagated the ideology of the “Northern Brotherhood” in the court ruling, so we are inclined to consider his prosecution unlawful.

Let us note that this is the fifth fine of this kind known to us in the Ryazan region.

Sources

• Administrative violation case file No. 5-23/2024 // Shilovsky District Court of the Ryazan Region. 2024. April 5.