The prosecution has requested three years in a penal colony and a fine of 200 thousand rubles for Kazan activist Zulfiya Sitdikova, who is being prosecuted under two criminal articles because of two anti-war posters. This was reported by Idel.Realii.
Earlier, the jury decided that the activist did not deserve leniency.
The criminal case against Sitdikova under the articles on repeated discrediting of the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) and rehabilitation of Nazism (Part 3 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) was based on a poster with the inscription “9th”.
The girl was detained with such a poster at the end of May 2023, but was released from the police station without a report; she did not hold a picket. On July 18, it became known that following this detention, a criminal case was opened against Sitdikova under the article on defamation, the activist was searched, after which she was released. There is also a second episode in the case, which arose because of the poster "No to war", left near the Eternal Flame in Kazan's Victory Park.
Later, security forces found in the number and three letters on the first poster signs of a "negative assessment of the activities of the USSR Armed Forces", "negative assessment of days of military glory and memorable dates", "information aimed at creating a negative emotional assessment and a negative semantic attitude, a negative stereotype regarding representatives of the Red Army", "devaluation of the day of military glory and a memorable date", "humiliation of the honor and dignity of veterans of the Great Patriotic War and insult to the memory of representatives of the Red Army who died during it." This became the reason for adding the charge of rehabilitation of Nazism. On January 11, 2024, Sitdikova was finally charged.
In April, the activist was denied admission to a tuberculosis dispensary — before that, she had been trying to get a diagnosis for a year. At the dispensary, the girl was told that there was no room for her, but the patients of the institution denied this information. Sitdikova's defense suggested that the dispensary management was pressured by the prosecutor's office. On May 13, she was finally admitted for examination.
On July 22, 2022, the Novo-Savinovsky District Court of Kazan fined Sitdikova 40 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) because she came to Oleg Gazmanov's concert in a sweater with the inscription "No war". This administrative case subsequently made it possible to open a criminal case under a similar article on discrediting.
- In September 2022, Zulfiya Sitdikova and other Kazan activists were searched under the article on justification of terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). In May 2023, her home was searched in connection with a case of repeated discrediting of the army, which was brought against another person. The Supreme Court of Tatarstan later found this search illegal. On March 13 and 17, 2024 — during the preparation and holding of the presidential elections — Sitdikova was detained twice. On March 14, she was also given a warning against participating in a mass uncoordinated action, without specifying which action she was talking about.
- More than 900 people have already become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protests against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
- Article 280.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 — this is how the government responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. On March 14, 2023, the State Duma adopted amendments increasing the maximum penalty under this article, since then it has been seven years in prison.