Moscow court slaps fine on Novaya Gazeta reporter Ilya Azar for ‘discrediting’ Russian army

A court in Moscow has issued a fine to the tune of 60,000 rubles (approximately €980) to Novaya Gazeta reporter Ilya Azar for “discrediting” the Russian armed forces and calls for unsanctioned public rallies, attorney Leonid Solovyev told Novaya Gazeta. Europe.

Azar received a fine over his Facebook post from 28 February.

In the post, he talks about the attacks on Ukraine’s Kharkiv by the Russian army. He also called on Russian public figures who spoke out against the war to pick a date for an anti-war rally and call on their audience to take to the streets as “the only option to stop this nightmare.”

The court ruled that in his post, Azar “commits acts aimed to discredit the use” of the Russian army and makes “public calls for preventing the use” of the Russian armed forces “with the aim to protect the interests of Russia and its citizens and to maintain international peace and stability.”