Moscow District Court of Cheboksary sentenced member of the council of 'Open Russia' in Chuvashia and activist of the local headquarters of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny Semyon Kochkin to a fine of 1.5 thousand rubles. He was accused of publishing on his 'VKontakte' page the translated clip of the American TV show Last Week Tonight with symbol of the organization 'Islamic State' banned in Russia.
Kochkin was condemned under article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses ('Propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi attributes or symbols, or attributes or symbols of extremist organizations, or other attributes or symbols propaganda or public demonstration of which is prohibited by federal laws').
The human rights activist Alexey Glukhov, representing Kochkin's interests, intends to appeal the court's decision. He commented on the verdict on his Facebook page: 'The court put an equal sign between the terrorist organization and the extremist organization, which violates the law. The decision was issued in full, so it was ready before the trial.'
Idel.Realii reported that the accused Semyon Kochkin came to court with his stuff, as he feared that he would be arrested in the courtroom to disrupt the events of Navalny's headquarters.
Many oppositionists were attracted to the administrative responsibility for publication in the social network 'VKontakte' earlier in Chuvashia: Dmitry Semenov, Dmitry Pankov, Alyona Blinova, Anton Kravchenko and others.
Administrative punishment will not allow Semyon Kochkin to be the organizer and applicant of public events, and also to be nominated for elections to the authorities.
Daniil Kuznetsov, «7x7»
