Alexander Shmelev

Affiliated media: Vzglyad, Former editor

Incident date: July 7, 2023

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Moscow, Moscow

Additional information:

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has imposed four fines of RUB 50,000 each under the article on «discrediting» the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) on Alexander Shmelev, who headed the pro-Kremlin newspaper Vzglyad in 2007-2008 and then left the media to criticise the authorities. Shmelev was punished for Facebook posts made in April and October 2022: he wrote about Russian military atrocities in Ukraine, including in Bucha, suggested that Russians should not sponsor the war, speculated about the effectiveness of sabotage on railways and emigration from Russia due to mobilisation.