An activist from Makhachkala was fined for calls to secede from the Russian Federation.

The Supreme Court of Dagestan upheld the decision to fine activist Ruslan Rasulov, who was charged with public calls for violating the territorial integrity of Russia.

The reason for the protocol under the article on public calls for violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation via the internet (part 2 of article 20.3.2 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation) was Ruslan Rasulov's publication on Facebook*. On his social media page, the public figure regularly criticizes the republican authorities, including for communal and infrastructure problems in Makhachkala and other settlements in Dagestan.

The publication, in which law enforcement saw "direct calls for the region's secession from the Russian Federation," was published by Rasulov in January 2024. "The fact is confirmed by evidence: a prosecutor's ruling, a research report, screenshots, and protocols," the press service of the Supreme Court of the republic noted in a statement.

The administrative case against Rasulov was considered by the Leninsky District Court of Makhachkala on May 14. According to the ruling published on the court's website, in the post with the words "the metastases of the 'Russian world' have enveloped all structures of the republican and municipal authorities of Dagestan," law enforcement discovered "incitement to commit actions, the result of which is the secession of Dagestan from the Russian Federation."

Rasulov himself did not provide explanations during the court hearing, as noted in the document. The court sentenced him to a fine of 70,000 rubles; the activist appealed this decision, but the Supreme Court of Dagestan upheld it on July 13.

"The court disagreed with the arguments of the appeal and concluded that there were no procedural violations, and the punishment was deemed proportionate," the press service of the Supreme Court of Dagestan explained on Telegram. Ruslan Rasulov himself did not comment on the court's decisions regarding this case on his page.

Ruslan Rasulov is a lawyer and public figure, previously an organizer of anti-corruption rallies in Makhachkala. In December 2022, the European Court of Human Rights recognized that Rasulov's detention at an anti-corruption rally in October 2011 in Makhachkala violated his right to freedom of assembly.