A court in Saint Petersburg has fined activist Regina Mishchenko, 27, 50,000 rubles [€675] for wearing a T-shirt reading ‘fuck war’, Mishchenko told Novaya-Europe.
The woman was found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army”. The report police compiled on her reads that the woman was taking photos with Vladimir Putin’s portrait in the background while wearing an anti-war T-shirt, thus “expressing her opinion and forming the opinions of others regarding Russia’s participation in a war rather than a special military operation”.
The woman learned about the fine from her attorney. She says she did not receive any notice: “I signed the paper that said I would get an SMS a day before the trial, but received no such message.” Mishchenko and her attorney are planning on appealing the decision.
Mishchenko was detained on 28 October in a bar in Saint Petersburg. She suspects that someone of the bar’s personnel might have reported her to the police since the latter came looking for a person wearing an anti-war T-shirt.
Mishchenko was then taken to a police station and was examined for alcohol. “The test showed a result of 0.49‰, so I was virtually sober,” she says. She was then charged with “being drunk in public” and detained for 48 hours. “The report says I was detained for being drunk in public and insulted others with my appearance,” Mishchenko says.
While the woman was inside the police station, she was also charged with “discrediting the army”.
