Alexander Neustroyev from Yekaterinburg was sentenced to three years in a penal colony for insulting a schoolboy wearing a Z hat, as reported by 'Vecherniye Vedomosti' on June 10.
The court announced the verdict in Alexander Neustroyev’s case on June 10, after considering it for the second time. The defendant pleaded not guilty.
Over a year ago, Neustroyev scolded a boy on the street who was wearing a hat with a war symbol and advised him to 'put it up his ass.' The man was detained by riot police and faced charges of hooliganism (Part 1 of Article 213 of the Russian Federation). In August, Neustroyev was fined 7,000 rubles, and the case was closed. Z-patriots were outraged by the mildness of the punishment, and the Prosecutor General’s office demanded a second investigation.
City authorities awarded the boy who owned the hat and suggested he 'enlighten' schoolchildren on the purposes of the war in Ukraine. Lyudmila Votintseva, the boy’s mother, complained about harassment and had to quit her job at the court. She called Neustroyev’s sentence fair.