A resident of Kabardino-Balkaria was fined for discrediting the army.
The Elbrus District Court fined a local resident 30,000 rubles, finding her guilty of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The verdict was based on a video she posted on WhatsApp*.
Criminalization of discrediting the armed forces was introduced on March 4, 2022. Since then, residents of Russia, including those in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts, have been subject to prosecution under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. It provides for a fine of 30,000 to 100,000 rubles for citizens, and repeat violations within a year result in criminal prosecution.
According to investigators and the court, a local resident posted a video on WhatsApp* that bore the hallmarks of public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, the Elbrus District Court press service reported on its official VKontakte page on March 12.
During the court hearing, the woman admitted her guilt and expressed remorse for her actions. When sentencing, the court considered her admission of guilt and remorse as mitigating circumstances.
The Elbrus District Court found the defendant guilty of public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced her to a fine of 30,000 rubles.
The offense was discovered during operational and investigative measures by the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs aimed at identifying instances of extremist materials being posted online, the court said.
According to the court record on the court's website, Lyudmila Raukhova was brought to administrative responsibility. The case was submitted to the court on February 4, and a ruling was issued on February 20.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that a deaf-mute resident of Kabardino-Balkaria was fined for discrediting the army due to a video posted on a messenger app. Deaf-mute, who has been disabled since childhood, was questioned in court with the help of a sign language interpreter. He told the court that the video was sent to him and that he did not realize it contained discrediting information about the Russian army, as he was unable to hear the "negative comments" in the video.