The occupying court in Crimea upheld the fine imposed on lawyer Rustem Khamilev for "discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."

The occupying Supreme Court of Crimea upheld the decision of the Kyiv “district court” to fine lawyer Rustem Kyamilev under the article on discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

This was reported by “Crimean Solidarity.”

The lawyer was ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 rubles, found guilty of “disagreement with the actions” of the Russian army. The initiation of the administrative case was triggered by a repost of a video by Russian politician Grigory Yavlinsky from 2017 on the lawyer's personal Facebook page. In the video, the politician states that the events in Syria and Ukraine represent “an ethical catastrophe for Russia that will not be forgotten for decades, if not centuries.”

Despite the fact that the video was published long before the law was enacted that introduced responsibility for “discrediting” the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and thus has no retroactive effect, the “court” ignored this argument.

The defense also noted that there was no judicial expertise or expert conclusion in the case materials that established that Kyamilev's repost of the video constituted “discredit.”

At the same time, according to the defense, the first instance “court” made “gross errors” in its final ruling. For instance, the document listed a surname that was not Kyamilev's, but rather that of one Appazov. The court agreed to correct the mistake only in that part.

Kyamilev himself stated that during the hearing, Judge Dyachenko was “biased” against the defense.

It is worth recalling that Kyamilev was sentenced to 10 days of detention by “judge” Lyudmila Solohub of the occupying Kyiv district court in Simferopol. The “decision” was made on November 7 under part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation – “propaganda or demonstration of prohibited symbols.”

The arrest followed an examination, which in fact was a search in the home of the spouses, lawyers of the public movement “Crimean Solidarity”, Rustem Kyamilev and Lili Hemedzhi, in the village of Pionerskoye. Representatives of the illegal “center for countering extremism” in temporarily occupied Crimea used force against the spouses and conducted investigative actions based on the ruling of the Russia-controlled “Kyiv district court of Simferopol.”

After the examination of the house was completed, law enforcement officials took lawyer Kyamilev to the premises of the “center for countering extremism” in temporarily occupied Simferopol. The man was charged with two administrative protocols for publications on his Facebook page dated June 9, 2020, and October 21, 2017.

The first protocol, under part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation, was drawn up for a repost in 2020 from the “Crimean Solidarity” page. This publication discussed Ukrainian activist and political prisoner Oleg Prikhodko. In the photo, Prikhodko holds a sheet with a drawn flag and trident. According to the occupying law enforcement officials, this symbolism in the drawing belongs to the Ukrainian organization “Right Sector.”

The second protocol against the human rights defender was drawn up under part 1 of Article 20.3.3 due to “disagreement with the actions” of the occupying army. According to the staff of the “center for countering extremism,” Kyamilev made a repost of a post in 2017 by a user named Grigory Yavlinsky containing text and video about the events in Syria and Ukraine.

“This is an ethical catastrophe for Russia that will not be forgotten for decades, and possibly centuries…” – the post states. The text further mentions that the killings of Muslims and the testing of military equipment “are absolute evil.”

Previously, ZMINA reported that the “Kyiv district court” of occupied Simferopol fined lawyer and human rights defender Rustem Kyamilev 50,000 rubles for allegedly discrediting the occupying army. The day before, after his arrest, the same “court” sentenced the man to 10 days of detention.