A woman from Tula Oblast was fined for writing 'Burn in hell' on the ballot during the presidential elections, according to the report of the region’s courts’ press office on March 27.
A resident of Voskresenskoye settlement threw her ballot into a transparent box, and it landed face up. The court noted that the woman 'spent a lengthy period of time in the polling booth', crossed out the names of all candidates, and used the line featuring Putin’s name to write "Burn in hell forever!!! Forgive us Ukraine!!! Thief and murderer!!!"
The voter was found guilty of discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) and fined 30,000 rubles.
According to the human rights project 'OVD-Info,' law enforcers physically assaulted Alexander Shokhirev, a resident of Bratsk, on the third day of the elections (March 17). While beating the man up, they said that he 'did not vote correctly' – they could see his ballot through the transparent box. Security forces confiscated Shokhirev’s documents and mobile phone.
In total, there were 80 detentions in 20 locations across Russia during the elections.
