Press Release, 14.12.2022

Photo: Andrei Morev / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Tagansky District Court, which found Andrei Morev, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Yabloko and the former head of the Yakimanka District Council in Moscow, guilty of “discrediting the army”. Morev was fined 50,000 roubles.

On 15 June, an employee of the Tagansky police department drew up an administrative protocol against Andrei Morev under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Morev learned about this from a court summons, which he received by mail.

At the trial on 7 July, the police stated that “Morev clearly expressed a negative attitude towards the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, aimed at its demilitarisation and denasification in order to maintain international peace and security”. In his post on Facebook on 6 June, Morev listed the tragic consequences for Russia, Ukraine and the whole world of the so-called “special operation”. The Tagansky District Court found Morev guilty and sentenced him to a fine.

The politician appealed to the Moscow City Court with a complaint against the decision of the district court. The appeal stated that the court had violated the principle of competition between the parties, since the policemen who discovered the “offense” and drew up a protocol were not called to the trial. In addition, the district court rejected a request for a forensic linguistic examination of the post on the social network.

However, on 31 October, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision on Morev’s administrative offense.

It should be noted that on 7 June, Andrei Morev was detained when he was leaving the Tagansky District Court on suspicion of distributing “extremist symbols” since in the morning of the same day unidentified people pasted a sticker with the “Smart Voting” logo on his car. On 20 July, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court found the politician guilty of what he had not committed and sent him to serve 15 days of administrative arrest. In addition, Morev was deprived of passive suffrage for a year.

Andrei Morev must pay a fine of 50,000 roubles for “discrediting the army” by 30 December, 2022. Yabloko started a fundraising campaign to help Morev and other Yabloko people pay off the unfairly imposed fines.

Read more about the persecution of Yabloko members after the start of the “special operation”.