Press Release, 31.03.2023

Photo: Vladimir Yefimov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The journalist was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 roubles and a ban on publishing his materials on the Internet for two years. The decision will be appealed.

Today, the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court ruled out in a criminal case against Vladimir Yefimov, a journalist and the leader of the Kamchatka branch of Yabloko, that he was guilty of “discrediting the armed forces” under Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The criminal case against Vladimir Yefimov was initiated because of his pacifist posts on social media. Previously, he had been fined twice for his stance under the article of “discrediting the army” of the Administrative Offenses Code of the RF.

Vladimir Yefimov is a Kamchatka journalist and politician. In 1989, Vladimir Yefimov became one of the organisers of the TVK television company, the first non-state independent television company in the USSR, and was its Editor-in-Chief for 18 years. In January 2021, he received the highest award of the regional branch of the Union of Journalists of Russia “Journalistic Glory of Kamchatka”.

Yefimov became the second regional leader of the Yabloko party to be punished under the criminal article on “discrediting the army”. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Chairman of the Yabloko branch in Yakutia, was also fined 200,000 roubles and intends to appeal the decision. Court hearings on the criminal case for “fake news about the army” against Khakassian journalist Mikhail Afanasyev are still going on.