Press Release, 20.08.2026

Photo: Tatyana Pasman / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

A judge of the Pskov Regional Court has heard the appeal lodged by Tatyana Pasman, teacher and Pskov City Duma deputy from Yabloko, and her lawyer Vladimir Danilov against the ruling of a judge of the Pskov City Court, who found Tatyana Pasman guilty of displaying “Nazi symbols” (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and fined her 1,000 roubles. As in the city court, the hearing was held behind closed doors. The grounds for the administrative prosecution was a non-existent post on a private page on one of the social networks. The fines under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences are nominal; however, a finding of guilt under the “extremism” article renders it impossible for the person concerned to stand in elections for one year.

The publication attributed to Tatyana Pasman consists of illustrations relating to the tragic events of 7 October 2023 in Israel, in which the actions of Hamas are compared to those of Nazi Germany. One of the images features a caricature of Adolf Hitler with a swastika. The screenshots of the inspection report name a different person as the author of the post, and the URL of the publication leads to his page, not to Tatyana Pasman’s.

The appeal set out the following arguments, none of which the court heeded:

1. The publication is not on Tatyana Pasman’s page. All the screenshots of the inspection report name “Grigory Reikhman,” not “Tatyana Pasman,” as the author of the post — a fact the court of first instance passed over in silence.
2. No active steps by Tatyana Pasman herself to publicly display the prohibited symbols have been established. Tatyana Pasman’s own explanations, the inspection report, and the testimony of the police operative confirm that the publication was created by another person, whose actions led to the display of the symbols.
3. No intent to display the prohibited symbols for the purpose of promoting Nazism has been established. Tatyana Pasman has repeatedly stated her negative attitude towards Nazism and its ideology: she has spent many years researching the Holocaust and preserving the memory of its victims.
4. The disputed image is a caricature, a work of satire. The court of first instance mistakenly considered that the absence of accompanying comments excludes the application of the note to Article 20.3, which exempts from liability where the material forms a negative attitude towards Nazism. However, the note does not require the image to be accompanied by the author’s own explanatory comments. It is sufficient that the image, by its content, forms a negative attitude towards Nazism.
5. The court relied on inadmissible evidence — an expert opinion from Roman Ivanyakov, Deputy Head of the Pskov Branch of the University of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. The Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation does not provide for an “expert opinion” as a type of evidence. A specialist may only assist in the discovery, recording and seizure of evidence, but may not issue independent written opinions on the merits of a case. The opinion is dated 30 June, while the questions the specialist was asked to answer were drawn up only on 1 July. This indicates that the evidence was falsified. Furthermore, no documents confirming the specialist’s requisite expertise were attached to the opinion.
6. There is no administrative offence to speak of, since public display on the territory of the Russian Federation is impossible owing to the blocking of Facebook* (*a social network (owned by Meta which is recognized extremist in the RF) and blocked on the territory of the RF).
7. The right to an open trial was violated. The case file contains no grounds for a closed hearing as provided for in Article 24.3, Part 2, of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (the need to preserve state secrets, ensure the safety of participants, protect the interests of minors, etc.). Hearing the case in violation of the principle of openness constitutes a substantial infringement of the foundations of judicial proceedings in the Russian Federation, which entails the overturning of the ruling.

The appellate ruling will be appealed to the court of cassation.

It should be noted that Tatyana Pasman has spent many years researching the Holocaust and preserving the memory of its victims in the Pskov Region, and regularly takes part in memorial events organised by the Holocaust Research and Education Centre (Moscow), the International Centre for the History of the Holocaust and Genocides under the Russian State University for Humanities, and the New Synagogue Kaliningrad Museum.

In 2012, on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Tatyana Pasman took part, as a member of a delegation of researchers and teachers, in the discussion forum “Reviving Memory: The History of the Holocaust and Education in Russia” at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

She is a sitting deputy of the Pskov City Duma from Yabloko, fourth on the party’s list, and a candidate in Single-Mandate Constituency No. 1 for the Pskov Region Legislative Assembly.