March 14, 2023 10:06 am
In fact, the man was arrested, while the girl was taken to a rehabilitation center. Meanwhile, the Duma passed a law against criticism of the so-called Special Military Operation in Ukraine
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In Russiain April 2022, a 12 year old named Masha He drew an anti-war drawing at school after the art teacher asked the students to complete a task in support of Moscow troops in Ukraine. For this reason, on March 1 of this year, the (single) father of the child, Alexey MoskalevShe was arrested – while Masha was sent to a rehabilitation center – and is now at risk of losing parental authority. In fact, a court in the Tula region is trying to limit the man’s parental rights. According to the Russian online newspaper Meduza, a hearing in the case is scheduled for March 15. Meanwhile, the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, has approved a law tightening restrictions on criticism of the so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
Alexey and Masha are among a growing number of children and parents being prosecuted for failing to support Russia’s “military special operation.” The 12-year-old was detained at the social rehabilitation center after her father was arrested for “discrediting” the army in Yefremov, a town in the Tula region of Russia, some 240km from Moscow. The little girl was supposed to leave the center, but according to reports from the human rights organization OVD-Info, “the authorities refuse to release her”.
“We have not been able to learn anything about Masha since March 1,” the activists explain on Telegram, “the management of the center and its director do not give us any information about her, they ignore all requests and tell us to stop writing about Masha Moskalev”. Ovd-Info activists asked their supporters and anyone who was going to the hearing on March 15 and wanted to “flood the office with complaints” that Masha Moskalev was being held there “against her will and without a court order.”
The case – From April 2022 to March 1, 2023, father and daughter were repeatedly arrested, interrogated and – in the case of Alexey – beaten. When Masha was making the anti-war drawing, the school contacted the police, drawing attention to some anti-war statements her father had posted on social media. Father and daughter changed cities for their own safety, but nothing helped: on March 1, the police found them, arrested Alexey, while Masha was taken to the center. Now the father has been granted house arrest as he faces charges that could carry him to prison, but his daughter has not yet returned home.
In March, Svetlana Davydova, head of Yefremov’s youth commission, told Russia’s state broadcaster RBC that her department filed a lawsuit in January to limit the rights of Masha’s father and mother, who live in another city. Davydova said the family has been listed as “families in socially dangerous situations” since 2022. Alexey’s lawyer says he was never informed of the lawsuit and has filed complaints with the attorney general and local ombudsman alleging violations of the father and daughter’s rights.
The law against criticism of the special military operation in Ukraine – The legislation provides for prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading “fake news” and up to 7 years for defamation of all participants in the operation, not only soldiers of the regular armed forces but also “volunteers”. ’, including Wagner’s.
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