The judge of the Dorogomilovsky District Court, Sergei Kashirin, fined the founder of Polit.ru and the United Humanitarian Publishing House, Dmitry Itskovich, 150 thousand rubles under the article on «discrediting» the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.
Itskovich himself was not present at the court hearing, but his defense attorney, Tsurkanu, said that he fully admits his guilt. Itskovich's defense attorney also said that he, «while forming the publication imputed to him, did not put a negative meaning into it,» and immediately deleted it «as soon as a signal was received.» It is unknown which publication is in question.
Itskovich promised to «check his next publications more thoroughly and in fragments.»
The court did not announce which publication was the reason for drawing up the administrative protocol. After the hearing, the defense attorney refused to tell a Mediazona correspondent what Itskovich's publication was about, saying only that it was on a Telegram channel and «the main thing is that it was deleted.»
Dmitry Itskovich is an honored cultural worker. In 2020, Vladimir Putin awarded him a prize «for his contribution to strengthening the unity of the Russian nation.» In April, Roskomnadzor blocked Polit.Ru, the oldest information and political publication in Russia.
Itskovich also owns the Moscow pubs Zinziver and Dezhurnaya Rumochnaya and the St. Petersburg establishments V Butylke and Zaliv.