In Crimea, a DJ was arrested for 10 days for playing the Ukrainian song “Wild Field” in the cafe.
As local pro-Russian media write, a visitor ordered the Ukrainian song “Wild Field” by Yarmak Band in the Crimean bar “Crab” in the town of Shchelkino, Leninsky district of Crimea. One of visitors filmed a video that was posted to local groups on August 13:
And the next day – on August 14 – the “Leninsky District Court” found DJ Yuri Rodionov guilty of committing an administrative offense under RF CoAO Article 20.3-1 (Propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi paraphernalia) and sentenced him to 10 days of administrative arrest.
Later, a video was posted on public pages where DJ Yuri Rodionov, bar owner Galina Shchitova and visitor Dmitry Gain “are confessing and repenting”
As the CHRG reported, pressure for dissent has intensified in Crimea: Crimeans who express disagreement with the war are persecuted under several articles of the Criminal Code. For instance, since March 4, 2022, RF CoAO Article 20.3.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) has come into force in the Russian Federation and in the occupied Crimea. The occupying authorities sent at least 73 administrative proceedings to the “courts” of Crimea for consideration under this article. The judgement on imposing a punishment was passed for 62 of them. The fines in total amounted to about RUR2,000,000.
The most common reason for persecution was posting ‘NO TO WAR’ statement on the social network or holding a single-man protest, having a poster with this statement. One of persecutions was caused by I AM FOR PEACE statement. According to the ‘logics’ of occupying authorities, as Russia is not officially at war with Ukraine, but “is carrying out a special operation,” calls for peace are discrediting the RF Armed Forces.
The persecutions are often caused by conversations about the Russian-Ukrainian war with colleagues, relatives or friends. Posts or comments on social networks may also result in persecutions.
