“The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the verdict of a resident of Cherkasy region, who was given a suspended sentence for spreading communist symbols. At the same time, the decision to destroy the things seized from him was canceled. This is reported by the court register. During 2021, a resident of Cherkasy published on his Facebook page images of the flags and coats of arms of the USSR and Ukrainian SSR, symbols with a hammer and sickle, a red star”, — write on: ua.news
The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the verdict of a resident of Cherkasy region, who was given a suspended sentence for spreading communist symbols. At the same time, the decision to destroy the things seized from him was canceled.
This is reported by the court register.
During 2021, a resident of Cherkasy region posted on his Facebook page images of the flags and coats of arms of the USSR and Ukrainian SSR, symbols with a hammer and sickle, a red star, as well as portraits of Joseph Stalin.
For this, the man was sentenced to three years of imprisonment, but the sentence was replaced by two years of probation.
During the search of his house, the police seized a red flag, a badge with the flag of the Russian Federation and a “Georgian ribbon”.
The local court and the appeal ordered the destruction of these items, but the Supreme Court disagreed with this decision.
“According to the case materials, a red flag and a badge with the image of the flag of the Russian Federation and St. George’s ribbon were seized from the convict’s residence during the search. The case materials do not contain any information that the specified objects were used as instruments of a crime or preserved its traces,” the decision emphasizes.
The court also referred to Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation of the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Regimes”, which states that the ban does not apply to items from private collections.
“The court agrees with the arguments of the defense that the said Law does not contain a requirement to destroy the objects that are the property of the convicted person and were kept in his private collection,” the ruling reads.
As a result, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the previous instances on the destruction of the seized items and obliged the Cherkasy police to return them to the owner.
Despite the decision on physical evidence, the Supreme Court emphasized that allegiance to the communist or Nazi regimes does not justify the violation of Ukrainian legislation.
“Such persons may have their own position that does not coincide with the opinion of the majority, but they must refrain from public statements and spreading the symbols of the communist regime,” the judges emphasized.
Earlier in Vinnytsia, a court found guilty of an OVA official who, during telephone conversations, spread fakes about the war and justified Russian aggression against Ukraine. In particular, she called Lviv “fascist”.
Earlier, the head of the Institute of National Memory of Ukraine, Anton Drobovych, explained why he has a negative attitude to national myth-making and heroization procedures, and also assured the continuation of decommunization.
