Tomsk musician fined €1,000 over ‘discreditation of military’ criminal charges

A court in Russia’s Tomsk has fined Anna Chagina, a musician, to the tune of 100,000 rubles (€1,000) for repeated “discreditation of the Russian military”, as per OVD-Info, citing Konstantin Mukhametkaliyev, a lawyer.

Chagina was also banned from posting on the Internet for two years. The prosecutor previously requested a fine of 200,000 (€2,000) for her.

The reason behind the charges is believed to be anti-war posts and comments on Chagina’s VK page, for instance, a post by Mykola Karpitsky, a Russian born philosopher based in Ukraine, about how civilians go through the times of war.

Chagina had her home searched on 30 November last year, and criminal charges against her were reported after a few hours. She was banned from using mail and the Internet, as well as from going outside at night or attending any public events.

She made anti-war posts on her VK page several times before her account was blocked following a Prosecutor General order. Last March, she was detained at an anti-war rally, and a court fined her for “discrediting the military” later.