Criminal case over the Telegram channel “Free Lapland”

Rafael Mamedov, a 22-year-old resident of Murmansk, has been held in pretrial detention for over six months for administering the “Free Lapland” channel. His friend told OVD-Info about this.

The group, dedicated to Murmansk Oblast (a region in Russia’s far north), posted memes, photographs, and also facts from the region’s history and mythology.

Mamedov is being charged under the article on participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 2, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). During questioning, the young man stated that since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, he has opposed it.

Last autumn, the authorities designated the “Forum of Free States of Post-Russia” as a “terrorist organisation,” and counted another 172 organisations as its “structural subdivisions.” The list included anti-war and decolonial initiatives and projects that promote the idea of independence for various regions from Russia. The register also featured 68 “organisations” about which nothing is known—human rights defenders believe these do not exist.

Additionally, the list included the “Belgorod People’s Republic” (BNR) and the “Kursk People’s Republic” (KNR); these are not organisations, but Ukrainian memes that play on the names of occupied territories of Ukraine.

“Free Lapland” was also added to the register.