A Russian man was fined for discrediting the army during a private conversation on WhatsApp
In St. Petersburg, a court fined local resident Dmitry Timofeev 30,000 rubles under a law regarding the “discrediting” of the Russian army. The basis for the ruling was a private video call he made on WhatsApp.
According to reports, in late December, the man called an acquaintance via WhatsApp and, during the conversation, expressed critical views about the Russian military. The person he was talking to recorded the conversation and reported it to the police the next day.
After an investigation, the materials were forwarded to the Center for Countering Extremism, and subsequently, an administrative report was filed against Timofeev.
During the court proceedings, the defense argued that the conversation was private in nature and did not constitute public dissemination of information. However, the court rejected this argument, noting that the statements could have become known to an unspecified group of people or been heard by third parties.
Timofeev himself pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, after which the court fined him 30,000 rubles.
Source: “Verstka.”
Russians want to return to the Soviet economy.
A Dead Empire: How Russia “Revived” the USSR.
