Russian Rights Defender Fined Over Calling For Protests Against War In Ukraine

Russian rights activist Marina Litvinovich (file photo)

Prominent Russian human rights activist Marina Litvinovich was fined on February 25 for "an attempt to organize an unsanctioned rally in Moscow" against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Litvinoich's lawyer Fyodor Sirosh said on February 25 that the Khamovniki district court in the Russian capital fined his client 30,000 rubles ($350). Sirosh added that he will appeal the court's ruling.

Litvinovich was detained a day earlier after she publicly called on Russians to rally in their cities against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

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Protests against Russia's military actions against Ukraine were held in 54 towns and cities across Russia on February 24, the day when the invasion started.

Several thousand people protested on February 24 on Moscow's central Pushkin square.

Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested.

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Police Break Up Anti-War Protests Across Russia

The Moscow City Court said on February 25 that about 200 protesters were charged with taking part in unsanctioned public events.

Meanwhile, 250 Russian scholarssigned an open letter demanding a stop to the war in Ukraine.

Hundreds of Russian journalists, singers, entertainers, writers, and other celebrities issued statements condemning the war.

The Novaya gazeta newspaper's February 25 edition was issued in both Russian and Ukrainian with the explanation that the newspaper's staff "does not consider Ukrainian the language of an enemy."

The newspaper's editor-in-chief editor, Nobel prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, wrote in an editorial that "only the anti-war movement of Russian citizens can save life on this planet."