A pensioner from Moscow was fined for complimenting Zelensky

The court in Moscow fined pensioner Olga Slegina 40 thousand rubles under the article on discrediting the army. Three denunciations were written on her for the conversation in the sanatorium. This was reported by “Memorial”.

In December, 70-year-old Slegina discussed with a native of Odessa over dinner in the Nalchik sanatorium how to pronounce the word “burnt”. She also asked the neighbor at the table whether he was for Russia or Ukraine, and asked the waitress about the same. During the conversation, Slegina said that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a “handsome young man with a good sense of humor,” and asked if they were shouting “Glory to Ukraine” here, like in Moscow.

A few days later, Slegina was informed that three denunciations had been written against her, in which it is said that she “praised Zelensky”. The police drew up a report on Slegina and took her to the department. During the interrogation, her phone was checked, she was asked about her connections with Ukraine and asked to sign a protocol “on her own words”. Slegina could not read the document due to vision problems, but still signed where the police indicated.

Later it turned out that her words were changed in the protocol: Slegina allegedly shouted “Glory to Ukraine” in the dining room, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation in Russia and “provoked the waitress.”

The court session lasted no more than five minutes, “Memorial” reported. The judge rejected requests to postpone the hearing due to Slegina’s health. The defense intends to appeal the verdict.

• Russian courts consider any anti-war speeches or reports about the participation of Russian troops in war crimes to be discreditable.
• The administrative article on the discrediting of the Russian army appeared shortly after its invasion of Ukraine. The article provides for a fine of up to 50,000 rubles, and for repeated violations, a criminal case with a penalty of up to five years in prison is threatened.
• During the war in Russia, more than six thousand cases of “discrediting” of the Russian army were initiated, Mediazona calculated.