Krasnodar activist arrested for collage with Putin

Alexei Mandrigelya, an activist from Krasnodar, accused of publicly demonstrating Nazi symbols by placing in a social network a photo collage depicting Vladimir Putin against the swastika, was sentenced to ten days of arrest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the blogger and an oppositionist Alexei Mandrigelya is a regular participant of protest actions in Krasnodar. He also took part in the "Russian Marches" held in the city.

The today’s case against Mandrigelya was initiated by officers of the Centre for Combating Extremism back in February 2015. According to investigators, in 2012, a collage with Putin against Nazi symbols was posted on the blogger’s page in the “VKontakte” network. By the time the case was opened, both the collage and the page were already deleted.

The blogger was charged under Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi attributes or symbols), which provides for up to 15 days of arrest.

Judge Maria Tokareva has supported the request of the prosecutor, who asked a ten-day administrative arrest for Mandrigelya, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.