The court ordered the PRUE them. G. V. Plekhanova to restore a student who was expelled for posts on Instagram

Two students of REU them. G. V. Plekhanov Polina Lysenko and Antonina Begacheva were expelled for posts about the military operation in Ukraine published on Instagram (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned). The girls filed a lawsuit, and he satisfied the claim of the first of them. The university was ordered to reinstate the expelled student.

Her lawyer Roman Kiselev told RBCthat on February 24, the girls posted “a number of rather emotional posts” on social networks. It turned out that their social networks were monitored by the head of the security department of the university. “He took screenshots, wrote a memo addressed to the vice-rector stating that these posts contain signs of an administrative offense and that this does not correspond to the charter of the university. Among other things, he recommended the girls for expulsion,” the lawyer said.

On February 28, an act of misconduct was drawn up, on the same day the university made a decision to expel the girls. They themselves did not know about it and continued to attend lectures and seminars in an online format. They became aware of the expulsion in March. “There were no documents, except for the expulsion order, even at the faculty they did not know that they had been expelled. The expulsion took place through the administration, and not the faculty, as usual, ”the lawyer said.

According to him, “there was nothing cruel in the posts that the girls showed.” The defense also drew attention to the fact that bringing to disciplinary responsibility for activities not related to education is a violation of the right to education.

As a result, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow satisfied the claim of Polina Lysenko and decided to reinstate her for study. The hearing on the suit of Antonina Begacheva will take place on August 22. Both girls, however, do not intend to return to the university. “One thing is a formal process where repression is applied, and another thing is when it is done unofficially … Polina has already entered another university and will go there to study in the new academic year,” the lawyer added.

Laura Keffer