In court - for "conversation with colleagues": in Crimea, people are persecuted for reporting at work

Russian security forces in annexed Crimea continue to persecute the local population for their anti-war views. Almost a thousand cases of criminal prosecution are known since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Cases of reporting by work colleagues in Crimea are becoming more frequent. How it happens and what it threatens, we talk about in the text Krym.Realii.

Russian security forces use various pretexts to persecute Crimeans for their anti-war stance of "discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation". These can be private conversations, posts on social networks, tags on the clothes they wear and much more. Often the reason is accusations from work - a practice of the former Soviet Union, which is repeated in the Russian reality.

"She expressed herself in a state of great mental excitement"

In August, such a story happened in Sevastopol. Operatives of the Center for Combating Extremism of the Sevastopol Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia detained a 43-year-old resident of Sevastopol. According to Russian media, her colleagues wrote a report about her. It is not known for sure where the detainee works.
It is not known for sure whether this statement was given voluntarily.
"Every fourth Crimean, who was forced to publicly apologize for his pro-Ukrainian attitude, was subjected to additional humiliation," the Crimean Initiative for Human Rights Irade stated, after studying about a hundred videos published in local propaganda publications and media.
"Human rights defenders gathered evidence that some recordings were made in the premises of law enforcement authorities. They came to the conclusion that the practice of humiliating people with a pro-Ukrainian sentiment in Crimea is massively, systematically and mostly using standard methods (reading the video recording is legally verified and the usual text of the apology). This is done in order to demotivate people who show their pro-Ukrainian mood and to prevent the growth of such feelings by intimidating the civilian population", human rights activists ZMINA state the results of the study.

Police officers submitted the protocol regarding the resident of Sevastopol to the Russian-controlled Lenin District Court. The court confirmed the receipt of the materials of this case, stating that the sanction foresees a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. There is currently no court decision in this case.
The attitude of the resident of Sevastopol regarding her persecution is unknown. Krym.Reali was unable to contact her immediately. The editors are ready to give her and her representatives the opportunity to express themselves about it.

Students and company employees "apply".

Whistleblowers at work have become commonplace in Crimea since its annexation. And in the conditions of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, pro-war activists have become even more active, because the local government is also encouraging it.
Many Crimeans suffered because of accusations by colleagues. Krym.Realii previously wrote about how their students and representatives of pedagogical teams complain about teachers to the FSB.
The most famous such case is the persecution of Andrii Bilozerov, a teacher of Russian language and literature at the Biloghirsk Faculty of Technology, who spoke out against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Once during a break, students asked him which drones were used in combat operations during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He named "Shahed", "Orlan" and "Bayraktar", and showed them the video for the song "Bayraktar" by the Ukrainian folk band "Sviatovid". One of the students recorded it on video, which later ended up in the FSB.

After that, Andriy Bilozerov was dismissed from the technical school and criminal proceedings were initiated against him under the article on discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Russian-controlled Central District Court found him guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 rubles. The Crimean denies guilt.
A similar story happened in Džhankoj with geography teacher Suzana Bezazijeva in 2022. She heard that the schoolgirls supported the actions of the Russian army during the all-out invasion of Ukraine and told them that she had never seen "Nazis" in Ukraine, whom the Russian army was supposedly exterminating.
Later, the mother of one of the students demanded that the school management fire the teacher. The parents of the schoolchildren also contacted the police. After that, Susana Bezazieva was fined 30,000 rubles and lost her job.
Readers from Crimea, who wish to remain anonymous, also talk about the negative consequences of convictions at work for Krym.Realia. Because for many, public testimony would mean losing their job.
A few months ago, Jurij Fandjuškin, an employee of the utility company Yalta Horsvet, was in court. This happened after he "in personal communication between employees and ordinary citizens spoke against the "SVO" (this is how Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine in full scale, starting on February 24, 2022 - KR), discredited the army and the state" .
The Russian-controlled court in Yalta found him guilty under Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (discrediting the Armed Forces of Russia) and imposed an administrative penalty.

"The resistance continues every day"

In the representative office of the President of Ukraine in the ARC, the strengthening of Russian repressive practices in the Crimean peninsula is considered a sign of growing anti-war protest sentiments among the local population.
"Every day, our citizens in the temporarily occupied Crimea continue to resist the Russian occupiers, showing support for Ukraine and faith in the inevitable de-occupation of the peninsula. The strengthening of resistance is evidenced by the new illegal administrative proceedings in the occupation courts of Crimea under the article on the so-called discrediting the Armed Forces of Russia. We thank each of you for your courage and clear civic attitude. We are fighting together to return the Crimean peninsula under the control of Ukraine as soon as possible and to give our citizens from the temporarily occupied territories a sense of security," the Representative Office announced.

According to the data of the Representation, in Crimea there are 913 cases of received materials prepared according to Art. 20.3.3 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Of these, in most cases (811) fines and other administrative penalties were imposed.
On June 25, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the international case "Ukraine v. Russia" that Russia unjustifiably established its legislation in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, violating the rules of international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms .
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced that the ECtHR's decision "is legally null and void for Moscow, Russia will not legally recognize it and will not implement it."