Court in Kalmykia upholds fine to Oleg Otkhonov for reposting pacifist video

The Supreme Court of Kalmykia has upheld the fine imposed on Oleg Otkhonov, a resident of Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, for reposting a video appeal of Valery Badmaev, the editor-in-chief of the "Sovremennaya Kalmykia" newspaper. Otkhonov intends to appeal against this decision.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 30, the Elista City Court imposed a fine of 30,000 roubles on the 57-year-old Oleg Otkhonov for reposting a pacifist video appeal by journalist Valery Badmaev. Otkhonov said he intends to appeal against the imposed fine "up to the ECtHR (European Court of Human Rights)."

Oleg Otkhonov reposted the pacifist video in his page in the "VKontakte" social network on March 2, before the law on administrative responsibility for discrediting the army came into force; and a protocol against him was drawn up on March 28. The first-instance court considered his case only in late May, Sanal Ubushiev, his advocate, has explained. According to the policeman who drew up the protocol, Otkhonov should have removed the video clip after the new law came into force.

The court of appeal has upheld the fine of 30,000 roubles imposed on Otkhonov by the Elista City Court, Otkhonov himself told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on July 20.

"The decision of the appellate instance will be appealed against at the ECtHR. Initially, we had decided that we would go through all the necessary instances; and we would appeal to the ECtHR immediately after the administrative penalty came into force," Oleg Otkhonov has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 21, 2022 at 02:54 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.