The court in Petrozavodsk fined Emilia Slabunova 30 thousand rubles in the case of discrediting the army

Petrozavodsk city court fined 30 thousand rubles. the head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia, Emilia Slabunov, under the article on discrediting the army (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The press service of the party clarifies that the “discredit” consisted in the proposal voiced at the meeting to spend budget funds on children’s education, and not on military operations in Ukraine.

“The police officer who was present at the meeting, who gave explanations, sincerely said: “Well, she offered to finance schools and hospitals, and not a special military operation. It means that she doubted her goals,” said Alexander Kobrinsky, one of Ms. Slabunova’s lawyers (quote on Telegram press service of Yabloko).

The MP called the decision of the court political and obvious. “Obviously, all this was done on order in order to besiege the opposition deputy and create as many obstacles as possible for his activities,” the politician believes. She intends to appeal the judgment.

According to Novaya Gazeta, the proceedings against Ms. Slabunova were initiated following complaints from her MP colleague Leonid Liminchuk (the United Russia party) to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the prosecutor’s office and the Investigative Committee.

According to federal law (FZ) “On the General Principles of Organization of Public Power in the Subjects of the Russian Federation”, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly cannot be held criminally or administratively liable for an opinion or position expressed during voting. At the same time, the law contains a clause stating that this provision does not apply to cases where a deputy committed public insults, slander, or “other violations” provided for by the Federal Law.

Andrey Sapozhnikov