A woman from Crimea was fined after suggesting people join a protest due to water supply problems.

The Kyiv District Court in Simferopol fined Zlata Spivak, a resident of the village of Pervomayskoye in Crimea, 20,000 roubles (about US$220) after she suggested holding a protest due to problems with the water supply. The media outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti drew attention to this decision report.

The court found 53-year-old Spivak guilty of organising a public event without submitting notice (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The judgment states that the Crimean resident organised the protest “by sharing information in the Telegram messenger group ‘Pervomayskoye,’ which has 30 members.”

Spivak did not plead guilty and insisted that she acted within the law.

Speaking to Ostorozhno, Novosti, she suggested that the reason for the protocol was a message she posted in the village council chat. In it, she wrote about a conversation with the head of the Simferopol district administration regarding water supply problems in the village—water sometimes disappears for several days at a time.

“I informed [the head of the district] (and by the way, I’m informing everyone here who cares) that if the issue is not resolved soon, an initiative group from the rural settlement has already prepared a protest with signs and television on the highway. We will create public resonance. So anyone who wishes can join,” Spivak wrote in that message.

She noted that she had never posted in the chat mentioned in the case materials.