Astrakhan court upholds fine imposed on jobless single mother for supporting Navalny

The Astrakhan Regional Court has upheld the decision of the district court, which on August 3 fined Ekaterina Semyonova, a resident of Astrakhan, by 10,000 roubles for taking part in the January 23 action in support of Alexei Navalny.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 23, 2021, a two-hour march was held in Astrakhan in support of the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, which met no law enforcers' counteraction. Police started to detain activists later.

According to Ekaterina Semyonova, law enforcers came to her on July 10 and summoned her to the police station "for a talk." There, they drew up a protocol under an administrative article on violation of the established order for holding public events. On August 3, the Kirov District Court imposed a fine of 10,000 roubles on her. Policemen explained that they had drawn up a protocol for the January action in July by saying that "they had just found us," Ms Semyonova has added.

At the court session on September 3, Ekaterina Semyonova stated that she was unable to pay the fine. "I told the court that I have two children, five and seven years old, and I rear them alone. Besides, during the pandemic I was fired, and now I'm jobless. I submitted all the certificates to the court, asking to at least reduce the fine. But no, they refused," Ekaterina has complained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 3, 2021 at 10:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.