Affiliated media: Blogger

Incident date: July 10, 2023

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: 7x7

Location: Russia, Vladimir Oblast, Voronezh

Additional information:

A court in Voronezh has fined blogger Pavel Sychev RUB 10,000 in a case of «discrediting» the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation). He was penalised for a video clip — an interview about his attitude to the issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court. Sychev said that law enforcers heard the phrase «Putin is a thief» in the first seconds of the video, although it was not really there. The officers also did not like Sychev’s phrase: «Everyone is a fervent supporter of Vladimir Putin, unfortunately it is true, but we do not despair». The law enforcers interviewed four witnesses who said that Sychev switched off the camera and began «frantically discrediting the Russian armed forces.» The blogger wanted to complain about the witnesses to the prosecutor’s office, but did not do so because the witnesses’ testimonies were drawn up with irregularities.