Sochi resident fined for insulting President Putin

A court fined Alexander Goncharov, a resident of Sochi, 50,000 roubles for reposting in Telegram critical publications about the authorities of Russia.

The article on petty hooliganism provides for punishing citizens for their posts on the Internet if the law enforcement bodies see in those posts “obvious disrespect for society, the state, the official state symbols of the Russian Federation, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, or government bodies.”

Alexander Goncharov reposted publications on Telegram from a channel run by supporters of Alexei Navalny. Several images “criticizing the current government and officials,” including Vladimir Putin, were considered by the police and the court to be “an insult to human dignity and public morality,” the “OVD-Info”* human rights project reported.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.