CrimeaSOS: the occupiers issued 560 resolutions on “discrediting the russian army” in Crimea

Over the year and 10 months, the occupation “courts” in Crimea issued 560 resolutions on bringing to administrative liability for allegedly discrediting the russian army (article 20.3.3 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation). CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko told us about it.

Out of more than half a thousand resolutions, 54 were issued in December this year: 16 more than in November, when the “courts” adopted 38 such resolutions. For the entire time, the most decisions were issued by the “Kyiv District Court of Simferopol” (91), “Yevpatoria City Court” (52), “Feodosia City Court” (43), “Yalta City Court” (43) and “Armiansk City Court” (35).

“Statistics show that in 2023 there were twice as many court rulings on administrative liability for “discrediting the Russian army” in occupied Crimea than in 2022″, — Yevhenii Yaroshenko noted.

According to the analyst, this can be explained, in particular, by the condemnation by some of the residents of Crimea of massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and the public uplift after a successful series of hits on russian military facilities on the occupied peninsula.

We shall also remind that during the period from March 4, 2022 to December 31, 2023, the “courts” in Crimea passed 6 verdicts in criminal cases on the alleged repeated discrediting of the russian army (article 280.3 of the criminal code of the russian federation). Three of them provided for actual deprivation of liberty for up to 1.5 years.

On March 4, 2022, russian MPs adopted amendments to the legislation, which provided for administrative and criminal liability for “discrediting the armed forces of the russian federation”. Since then, the russian federation has used this law to persecute people with anti-war and pro-Ukrainian views.