On March 3, the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of Adygea fined a local resident, 39-year-old Igor Korotkov, 800 thousand rubles under the criminal “article on fakes” (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”). The court considered the video “Ukraine: Putin’s Defeat” from the Navalny LIVE channel, which Korotkov posted in a WhatsApp group dedicated to a rally in support of the Russian army, to be “fake.”
The video was posted in March 2022, it was noticed by employees of the Adyghe FSB Directorate, who transferred the material to the investigative department. The case was handled by the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for Adygea.
At the trial, Igor Korotkov did not admit guilt, citing the fact that his information about the situation in Ukraine cannot be considered “deliberately false”, since no one refuted it.
Punishment under Part 1 of Article 207.3 provides for a fine in the amount of 700 thousand to 1.5 million rubles, or correctional labor for up to one year, or forced labor for up to five years, or imprisonment for the same period. The court imposed a fine of 800 thousand rubles on the defendant.
In early April, Korotkov appealed the district court's decision. In his appeal, he indicated that he considered the sentence illegal, unfounded and subject to cancellation. Among other arguments, he noted that not a single legislative act has established the prejudicial nature of the information reported by representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, therefore, they also need to be verified for accuracy. However, this was not done, official representatives of the Ministry of Defense were not interrogated in the case, and the briefings of the Ministry of Defense, which were referred to by the investigation and the court, were not studied.
Article 207.3 was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in response to mass anti-war protests. At the same time, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code “Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” came into force. According to Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, in the first six months more than 100 criminal cases were initiated under these two articles. In addition, “4.5 thousand administrative offenses were suppressed” - this means liability under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces.”
This is the second case of “fake news” in Adygea, writes the Kavkaz.Realii publication. In September 2022, the Maykop City Court fined local pensioner Elena Sumina 209,811 rubles 36 kopecks - this is her annual income in the form of a pension.