Tomic was sent to forced labor for two comments mentioning police officers

Andrey Chernov was brought to justice under Art. 20.3.1 Code of Administrative Offences.

On March 30, 2026, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Tomsk ordered 30 hours of compulsory labor under Art. 20.3.1 Code of Administrative Offenses (incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) to Andrey Chernov.

He was punished for two comments he left on VKontakte. The first was posted on May 16, 2025 under a post in the community “Bitter Truth - Strength in Truth” with a statement by a UFC fighter about Russophobia in the world. Chernov wrote a long response, in which he stated, in particular, that Russophobia is widespread in Russia itself: “every second person throws mud at the Russian people, the remnants of industry, the Soviet past.” At the same time, he stated that law enforcement officers are “policemen, gopniks in uniform, thugs” who, “like dogs for a bone, curry favor with their masters and mock and mock the Russians.”

The second comment was published on May 17 under a post from the “Chronicles of Corruption” community about the verdict of Sergei Veselov . In it, Chernov used the expression “police watchdogs, ready to do anything for money.”

From our point of view, government officials do not have the level of vulnerability that requires special protection from manifestations of hatred. And law enforcement officials, in turn, should generally be extremely tolerant of criticism - as long as there is no real threat of violence, as the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly stated . There were no aggressive calls in Chernov’s comments, so we consider his persecution to be unlawful. Let us also recall that we generally advocate the exclusion of the unclear term “social group” from the rules on incitement to hatred precisely because of its broad interpretation.

Sources

• Administrative violation case file No. 5-597/2026 // Oktyabrsky District Court of Tomsk. 2026. April 14.