Kras.news editor-in-chief Dmitry Polushin was fined for inciting hatred against United Russia members
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The Krasnoyarsk court on Thursday fined Dmitry Polushin, editor-in-chief of the local online publication Kras.news, 20 thousand rubles. for inciting hatred and hostility towards members of the United Russia party. The security forces had complaints about a YouTube video in which the journalist analyzed the work of the party in power in the city council. Mr. Polushin himself believes that he paid for supporting the convicted politician and businessman Anatoly Bykov.
On November 16, the Central District Court of Krasnoyarsk considered a case of an administrative offense under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Inciting hatred or enmity based on belonging to a social group”) against the famous opposition journalist, editor-in-chief of the Internet resource Kras.news Dmitry Polushin. It was initiated by the prosecutor’s office based on materials received from Center “E” of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Law enforcement officers became interested in a video posted on the Kras.news YouTube channel on September 7, 2023. Almost 150 thousand users are subscribed to the channel; a 20-minute recording about the work of city council deputies received about 16 thousand views. The analysis of the activities of United Russia in the video is preceded by an “obscene introduction”, which, as the journalist himself said, he used to attract attention. In the video, Dmitry Polushin states possible connections between individual deputies and large federal and regional companies, as well as lobbying for their interests.
The case was based on an examination prepared by specialists from the Krasnoyarsk ANO “Union of Experts “Context””. Her conclusions say that the video “contains linguistic and psychological signs of inciting hostility towards representatives of a group of people identified on a social basis (membership in United Russia).” A significant part of the examination is devoted to the use of obscene language, which, according to experts, is “the most obvious sign of the author’s hostile attitude towards representatives of the group.”
Dmitry Polushin denies guilt. In a video message recorded after the initiation of the case, he stated that he was being persecuted for criticizing the party in power, and the employees of Center “E” allegedly had personal hostility towards him: “The roots of this are laid in the not so distant 2020, when I and like-minded people created a headquarters in support of Anatoly Bykov (former chairman of the board of directors of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum smelter and ex-deputy of the regional parliament.— “Kommersant”)”.
Let us recall that in May 2020, the investigation accused Mr. Bykov of a number of contract killings, and in the fall of 2021 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The editor-in-chief of Kras.news sees a political context in this case. Dmitry Polushin calls his own administrative case “composed of nothing,” since it was “impossible to find anything serious” about it: “I visited the Donbass, did not spread any fakes, did not discredit the army, although I profess a pacifist point of view.”
The case materials were received by the court on November 13. According to Kommersant’s sources, Mr. Polushin and his lawyer insisted on a re-examination, but this request was rejected. On Thursday evening, the court fined the journalist 20 thousand rubles. Dmitry Polushin does not rule out that a criminal case may now be opened against him for inciting hatred on political, national or religious grounds. The journalist’s lawyer, Vladimir Vasin, told Kommersant that a political party cannot be a social group, called the court’s decision “terrible” and promised to file an appeal, although he “sees no” chance of its satisfaction.
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