Crimean occupation court fines Qırım chief editor for "abusing freedom of information"

qha.com.ua

The Russia-installed Zaliznychnyi District Court of Simferopol (AR Crimea) has fined Bekir Mamutov, chief editor of the Crimean Tatar newspaper Qırım, 4,000 rubles (UAH 1,606) for publishing a biography of a human rights advocate mentioning that she has worked for Voice of America and Radio Liberty, Crimean Process reports.

Judge Maria Domnikova convicted him of “abusing freedom of information.” This is the third case against Bekir Mamutov this year, the human rights advocates say. Russia has declared Voice of America and Radio Liberty “foreign agents” and all references to them must mention this fact.

The no audience was present at the hearing, as nobody was allowed into the courthouse, allegedly to prevent the threat of terrorism. The human rights activists also note that the ruling was passed by a judge whom a Ukrainian court sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for high treason in May of this year.

In late May, two cases against Qırım were opened: for "discrediting the Russian Armed Forces and disseminating clearly false information presented as reliable information." The "Center E" claims that a post by Bekir Mamutov "distributed information aimed at discrediting the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, to maintain international peace and security as part of the efforts to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine." In this way, the newspaper "expressed its disagreement with the conduct of the SVO," according to operative Korenovsky, thus committing an offense under Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

On 7 June, 2024, the Russia-installed Kyiv District Court of Simferopol fined the newspaper Qirim 300 thousand rubles (approximately 140,230 hryvnias) for "discrediting the Russian Federation Armed Forces." Later, the court dismissed the newspaper's appeal and upheld the fine.