In Chuvashia, a journalist has been sentenced to compulsory community service for a publication about the police.

On 12 December, a court in the Morgaushsky district of Chuvashia sentenced Eduard Mochalov, the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper “Vzyatka,” to 180 hours of community service under the article on public insult of a public official (Art. 319 of the Criminal Code). He wrote about this on LiveJournal.

The reason for the case was his article “The Morgaush police deserve only shackles, not praise.” In the article, Mochalov described how in the district, more than 100 hay bales belonging to farmer Vladimir Kuzmin were ruined, but the police did not look for those responsible. He also reported that the 14-year-old daughter of the farmer was publicly insulted by two men—relatives of the police chief. They called her “the daughter of an idiot.”

The criminal case was initiated following the complaint of Dmitry Grigoryev, head of the precinct police department of Morgaushsky district of Chuvashia, and his subordinate, Marina Nikolaeva. They objected to Mochalov’s wording in the article: “According to our information, Dmitry Grigoryev is a real scoundrel and likes to make trouble on the sly, and, apparently, is on good terms with the Morgaush mafia.”

The journalist believes the case is revenge for his criticism, plans to appeal the verdict, and will continue writing about what is happening in the district.