A Moscow resident was fined 30,000 rubles for wearing a yellow and blue hat and a heart in the colors of Ukraine, the legal aid project "Setevye Svobody" posted on their Telegram channel Thursday.
The case file states that the accused woman “displayed items of clothing and a badge painted in the colors of the flag of the Republic of Ukraine in a public place, expressing a clearly negative attitude towards the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and attracting the attention of the media and bloggers.”
According to the human rights project OVD-Info, security forces have detained 14,980 people at anti war protests since the beginning of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
People are usually fined under the new law on "public actions aimed at discrediting” the Russian military.
Citizens can be fined a maximum 100,000 rubles (US$974), while officials and legal entities could face up to 300,000 (US$2920) and 1 million rubles (US$9730) respectively.
People who publish “knowingly false information” about the Russian armed forces and “special military operation” in Ukraine can be jailed for up to 15 years under a new law signed by President Vladimir Putin on March 4.
Russian investigators on Wednesday launched the first criminal cases under the new bill.
So far three individuals have been accused of publishing “lies” on social media, the criminal investigations committee announced on its website.
The homes of the suspects have been searched and restrictions imposed on their movements.
Since the introduction of “fake news” jail terms, a number of Russian liberal media outlets have halted their operations, relocated to other countries or have been shut down by the authorities.
Among them are Russian liberal-leaning radio station Ekho Mosvky, independent news outlet Znak and independent TV channel Dozhd.
Russian media have been ordered to only publish information provided by official sources and remove all reports that describe Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine as "assault, invasion, or declaration of war."
