20:55, 8 August 2025

Human rights activist Anokhina and a resident of Dagestan arrested in absentia in a case of "fakes" about the army

Journalist and human rights activist Svetlana Anokhina, accused of spreading “fakes” about the army, has been arrested in absentia in Dagestan; a 37-year-old native of the republic is also being charged in a similar case.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, journalist and human rights activist Svetlana Anokhina, who left Dagestan due to threats, learned from the media in April 2023 that a criminal case had been opened against her under the article on public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian armed forces. The investigative bodies did not personally send Anokhina any documents on the initiation of the case. In September 2024, Anokhina reported that security forces came to her 95-year-old mother to take a saliva sample from her. Anokhina called these actions intimidation of an elderly woman. "What does my mother and her saliva have to do with it? ... What are you going to compare it to? With my traces on the Internet?" she was indignant.

Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was introduced on March 4, 2022, after the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine. This article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contradicts the Constitution of Russia, as well as the basic principles of law, the Memorial Human Rights Center* said. "The wording of the article does not allow us to determine in advance which statements are lawful and which are prohibited. A citizen cannot know in advance which of his statements, what information may be considered false in this context," the human rights activists emphasized.

The investigative bodies of Dagestan reported the completion of the investigation into two cases of dissemination of fakes about the Russian army. One of them is the case against human rights activist and journalist Svetlana Anokhina, the second is against a 37-year-old native of Dagestan.

The Investigative Committee did not name the accused, calling Anokhina a 63-year-old native of Dagestan, but a link to a previous publication on the department's Telegram channel, from April 2023, indicates that it is about her. At the same time, the message about the two accused is written as if Anokhina and the unnamed native of Dagestan acted together.

According to the investigation, in 2022, both of them, while outside of Russia, “publicly disseminated deliberately false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces under the guise of reliable information,” including on social networks banned in Russia.

“The court has chosen a preventive measure in the form of detention in absentia for the accused. They have also been charged in absentia with committing the above-mentioned crime. (...) The criminal cases with approved indictments have been sent to court for consideration on the merits,” the department’s official statement says.

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/413668