Man Fined Over a Private WhatsApp Conversation. His Conversation Partner Reported Him.

A man was fined over a private WhatsApp conversation. The report against him was written by the person he was talking to.

The Vyborgsky Court of St. Petersburg fined Denis Timofeyev 30,000 rubles under the article on “discrediting” the army for statements made during a private video call.

According to the court, the man’s conversation partner recorded the call, which took place on December 31, and went to the police the next day. He said that on the evening of December 31 Timofeyev called him on video in a messenger app and “repeatedly” made “destructive and discrediting” statements about Russian military personnel.

The defense argued that the conversation was private in nature and not public, but the court decided that the words could have been heard by third parties and therefore fall under the article.