In Kuban, election commission member fined for discrediting Russian Army

A court in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban has sentenced Victor Yevdoshenko, a member of the local election commission, to a fine of 30,000 roubles, finding him guilty of discrediting Russian militaries.

As reported by the human rights project "OVD-Info"* in its Telegram channel, the reason for imposing the above fine was in the video posted in the election commission's WhatsApp** chat, which contained criticism of the actions of the Russian Army in Ukraine. "The case was initiated following a denunciation by Yevdoshenko's colleague from the election commission," the above project has explained.

According to the court, on January 26, Yevdoshenko posted in the messenger a link to a video "from the YouTube entitled 'Breaking News, Another Scandal'." "By doing this, he carried out public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," the judge has ruled.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.