Law enforcement officers detained in St. Petersburg the deputy chairman of the city branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK) Alexander Kononov. This was reported on Tuesday, May 17, by the portal 78.ru, citing a source.
According to him, the man was suspected of discrediting the Russian army. Thus, a protocol was drawn up against him under Article 3 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces”).
Details of the offense imputed to Kononov are not given.
According to Delovoy Peterburg, the man has already been brought to the Leninsky District Court, where the case has begun.
In early March, the State Duma adopted in the third reading amendments to the Russian Criminal Code on punishment for fakes, discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and calls for sanctions. According to the adopted document, liability for the public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian army involves a fine in the amount of 700 thousand to 1.5 million rubles, or in the amount of the income of the convict for a period of up to 18 months. It also provides for a penalty of up to three years in prison. In the event that knowingly false information entailed grave consequences, a punishment of 10 to 15 years in prison is provided.
On March 4, the Federation Council approved the law at a plenary session. On the same day, the law was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation emphasized, as the Russian troops successfully carried out the rescue operation in the Donbass, the Internet was filled with numerous fakes and calls for violence against the military personnel and citizens of the Russian Federation.
The operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass, which caused a negative reaction from the West, was launched by Russia on February 24. The tasks of the special operation include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the implementation of which is necessary to ensure the security of Russia.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
