Leninsky District Court of Penza gave teacher Irina Gen five years of a conditional sentence. In addition, the court banned her from teaching for three years. She was charged with the article on fakes about the military because she had discussed the events in Ukraine with her students. Her lawyer, Alexander Fedulov, announced the verdict to 7x7.
Defender from Agora Alexander Fedulov said that he had mixed feelings about the court's decision. According to him, on the one hand, Irina Gen was given a lenient sentence, on the other hand, he has a lot of questions about the accusation’s validity and proof. He said that the teacher was not engaged in political activities, and it was unclear on what basis she had been attributed a motive of political hatred.
"The absurdity of this category of cases lies in one thing: there is an official point of view of the state, and any other opinion that differs from it is a crime. They [investigators] only need to prove that it was pronounced, printed, and so on," Fedulov said.
He said they would not appeal the verdict.
The Investigating Committee opened a criminal case against Gen for fakes about the army at the end of March. The reason was the denunciation of the Olympic Reserve School’s eighth-grade students. Irina Gen explained during the lessons with them why the children would not attend international competitions because of the military actions in Ukraine. The students leaked her speech to FSB officers. She resigned voluntarily after the criminal case was initiated.
FSB officers suggested that Irina Gen "repent" — admit that it was she who talked to the children about Ukraine. They told the teacher about Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which one can get 10–15-years of imprisonment. They explained that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation had denied the data about Mariupol, and not knowing this was not an excuse. Gen was promised minimal punishment if she agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The teacher agreed because she was scared.