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  • On 15 March, police in Perm, a major city in the Urals, detained 80-year-old activist Viktor Gilin, who was holding a solo protest against censorship near the site of a cancelled rally. The elderly activist spent two nights in a police station. In the end, he was fined 2,000 roubles (about US$22) for disobeying police orders (article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), and then a further 20,000 roubles (about US$220) for organising an event without notifying the authorities (part 2 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
  • On the same day, the Perm city authorities notified the organiser of a protest against censorship two hours before the agreed time, saying the event was now banned. Officials claimed they had received information about a ‘potential accident.’
  • In Tomsk, a city in Siberia, the city authorities refused to approve a protest against censorship planned for 29 March, despite the organiser suggesting 15 different venues for the event. Officials threatened to open a criminal case over ‘fake news’ (article 207.1 of the Criminal Code) for ‘expressing an opinion about the blocking of information services, messengers and social networks’.
  • In the Moscow region, the organiser of a kok-boru match was fined 10,000 roubles (about US$110) under the article for organising a mass gathering in a public place (article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Kok-boru is a popular game in Central Asia in which horse riders try to grab a goat carcass and throw it into the opponent’s ‘cauldron’ (goal).

What’s happening with the farmers’ protests in Novosibirsk region:

  • Seven residents of the village of Koziha were fined 12,000 roubles (about US$130) each. They were also found guilty under the article on organising a mass gathering in a public place (article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
  • Farmer Svetlana Panina, who had been protesting after all her livestock was put down, was detained by police and taken for questioning. According to Panina, her husband is facing charges of arson for allegedly burning down a ‘livestock disposal site.’ She insists the case has been fabricated.