The Gelendzhik City Court sentenced pensioner Vasily Romanyuta to three years probation for publications on social networks. This was reported by 7×7 with reference to the court's press service.
Romanyuta was found guilty of repeated «discrediting» of the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). In addition to the main punishment, he was also banned from posting on the Internet for three years.
The criminal prosecution of the pensioner became known in April, when the Investigative Committee of the Krasnodar Territory published a press release about his arrest. The publication said that the 74-year-old resident of the region published information on social networks from December 2022 to March 2023 that «discredited the armed forces.» The exact content of the publications is unknown.
In February 2023, the pro-government public page «Police Human Rights Defender» wrote that Romanyuta, among other things, reposted pictures of Vladimir Putin with the letter Z on his forehead to his Odnoklassniki page, wishing him a painful death. In addition, the pensioner supported «Smart Voting» and advocated for the release of politician Alexei Navalny from prison.
In June, Romanyuta's criminal case was transferred to court — the pensioner admitted guilt, the materials were reviewed in two sessions, and at the third, which took place on July 17, the verdict was announced.
In the fall of 2022, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar fined the pensioner 30 thousand rubles in an administrative case of «discrediting» the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). Then the reason for the protocol was a single picket with a poster that read: «Fuhrer Vova Putler is a criminal. The Hague awaits him.»