Zakharova calls on Germany to stop prosecuting pro-Russian demonstrators

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the trial of Elena Kolbasnikova in Germany on Friday. At the beginning of her statement, Zakharova pointed out that it was with concern that representatives of the Russian-speaking diaspora in Germany were being targeted by public hate speech. Since 2022 at the latest, Germany has been overwhelmed by a wave of Russophobia, triggered by the German media and the aggressive rhetoric of German representatives and politicians.

Czech Republic: Up to three years in prison for “pro-Russian” statements

One of the most recent glaring incidents occurred in Cologne, where prosecutors are investigating Elena Kolbasnikova, a Dnepropetrovsk-born Russian diaspora activist, for comments she made on May 8, 2022 during a Victory Day event in support of Russia . The woman, who has lived in Germany for many years, faces a prison sentence of up to 3 years.

“It is obvious that the criminal prosecution against Elena is politically motivated. This is intended to intimidate representatives of the Russian-speaking diaspora in Germany, who openly speak out against the ongoing demonization of their cultural and historical homeland Russia in Germany.”

It goes on to say:

“We express our solidarity with the whole of ‘Russian Germany’. We call on Berlin to stop the persecution of its own citizens immediately.”

Specifically, Kolbasnikova is charged with two sentences. During a speech at the end of a motorcade in Cologne on May 8, 2022, in which more than a thousand vehicles drove to a Soviet memorial, she said:

“Russia is not an aggressor. Russia is currently helping to end the war in Ukraine.”

The public prosecutor’s office is of the opinion that Kolbasnikova thus approved a war of aggression in a way that was likely to disturb the public peace. The Cologne public prosecutor’s office and the district court of Cologne have confirmed that Kolbasnikova was charged in court. The case against Elena Kolbasnikova will be one of the first cases in which a charge under Section 140 of the Criminal Code will have to stand in court. You face up to three years in prison or a fine. In addition to numerous ambiguities regarding the legal assessment of the indictment, it is also questionable whether her statement “endangered public peace”.

More on the subject – Cologne: trial for speech in front of a Soviet memorial