A magistrate in Cheboksary found 23-year-old student of the Chuvash State Agricultural University, Dmitry Toktarov, guilty of vandalism and fined him 10,000 rubles, his lawyer told «OVD-Info»*.
At the same time, a criminal case on vandalism «motivated by political hatred» was initiated against the student.
Toktarov was detained at the end of November 2024. According to the investigation, from the end of October until his detention, he left three anti-war inscriptions in the village of Sernur (Mari El), the village of Zarechka-Ona (Mari El), and Cheboksary (Chuvashia).
Due to the inscription «Russia without Putin», left twice on banners advertising contract service in Cheboksary, Toktarov was charged under the article on vandalism, for which he was fined. Due to the graffiti «Putin — ***hole. No to war!» with a crossed-out letter Z and «Putin — pushtedysh!» (in Mari language «Putin — killer») a criminal case on vandalism «motivated by political hatred» was initiated against the student, the verdict on which has not yet been issued.
Toktarov said that after his detention, violence and threats were used against him, demanding that he provide the password to his phone. According to the student, he was detained at the moment he tried to tear down a poster offering to join the army under contract. At that moment, a car approached Toktarov, from which several men ran out and detained him.
He was taken to the department, where an officer from the Center «E» spoke with the young man and demanded that he provide the password to his phone. Toktarov agreed only to show the contents of the phone from his hands. After some time, people in masks arrived at the department and took the student in a van to a local cemetery. According to Toktarov, during the trip and at the cemetery itself, he was beaten and threatened with a gun. In the end, he provided the password to the phone, in which the security forces were looking for some «curators».
After that, the student was brought back to the police department, where he was left overnight. The next day, November 22, he was taken to the Kalininsky District Court of Cheboksary for consideration of an administrative case on petty hooliganism. The protocol stated that Toktarov swore and waved his arms in a public place. As a result, the court sentenced him to a day of arrest, which he had already served by that time. In addition, the security forces conducted two searches in the dormitory where the student lived.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».