On May 22, the Severodvinsk City Court of the Arkhangelsk Region sentenced local resident Alexander Malafeevsky to a fine of 100,000 rubles under the article on repeated discrediting of the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported to OVD-Info by the court.
The defendant fully admitted his guilt, and on June 7 the sentence came into legal force, since the parties did not appeal to the appellate court.
The case against Malafeevsky became known at the end of March; an acquaintance of his said that the reason for it was some posts on VKontakte. On February 29, a search was conducted in the defendant's home. The court refused to disclose the details of the prosecution, citing the fact that the criminal case "involves issues of state security."
Cases under the first part of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code may be initiated against someone who has been prosecuted under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) within a year. On December 23, 2022, the Severodvinsk City Court fined Malafeevsky 15 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) due to some posts on VKontakte. The content of these posts was concealed in the court's decision .
- Since February 24, 2022 — the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — residents of Russian cities have been taking part in anti-war protests and talking about the tragedy online every day. Anti-war speeches and statements are becoming grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 900 people have 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.