“Rehabilitation of Nazism”: UK instituted proceedings over portraits of Nazis on the website of the Immortal Regiment

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened criminal proceedings on the posting on the websites of the Immortal Regiment Online campaign of photographs of Nazi criminals. This was reported by the press service of the UK, noting that the action was aimed at preserving the memory of the generation of the Great Patriotic War and its participants who fought with Nazi Germany.

“Such actions are aimed at endorsing the crimes of the Nazi regime established by the verdict of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg,” the agency said.

Criminal proceedings were instituted on the grounds of a crime under Part 1 of Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code "Rehabilitation of Nazism", that is, the approval of the crimes established by the verdict of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal.

According to the investigation, no later than May 10, 2020, unknown persons posted on the Internet a photograph of the SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, the publication was accompanied by a comment that Colonel Alekseev V.M.

Another incident occurred no later than May 3. Then unidentified persons posted on the Bank of Memory website a questionnaire with a picture of Adolf Hitler, noting in a comment that it was a member of the Great Patriotic War, Gitle Adol Aloiso.

Currently, the investigation is taking the necessary measures to identify the persons involved in the commission of these crimes. Their actions will be given an appropriate legal assessment.

The investigation will also check other attempts to post untrustworthy content within the specified virtual campaign, the IC said.

Earlier, at a press conference in MIA “Russia Today”, which took place on May 12, Olga Amelchenkova, chairman of the central headquarters of the All-Russian public movement “Victory Volunteers”, spoke about the process of organizing the campaign “Immortal Regiment Online”. She stated that during the moderation of the uploaded questionnaires the volunteers recorded “egregious cases of insulting the exploit of the Soviet people”.

According to Amelchenkova, instead of photographs of veterans of the Great Patriotic War, some users sent images of cartoon characters and ideologists, leaders and officers of Nazi Germany. Volunteers and professional historians blocked such applications.

Then the head of the executive committee of the all-Russian public movement “Immortal Regiment of Russia” Artyom Khutorskoy emphasized that the experts were able to determine the IP addresses from which attempts were made to download profiles with photos of Nazis and war criminals.

“We will not leave unpunished these attempts to overshadow the celebration of the Great Victory on the day of its 75th anniversary and we transfer all the materials we collected to the Investigative Committee to organize a procedural audit,” he said.

• A young man watches the broadcast of the Immortal Regiment campaign on Vasilyevsky Descent in Moscow
• RIA News
• © Alexey Filippov

In an interview with RT, Andrei Manoilo, a member of the scientific council under the Security Council of Russia, believes that initiating a criminal case is the right step.

“Those who did this are provocateurs. If you evaluate this action from a moral point of view, it is generally beyond the bounds of good and evil. This is pure provocation. People want to show that anti-fascist forces and the memory of the victory over Nazism mean nothing ... This is not hooliganism, but a clearly pre-planned provocation, ”says the doctor of political sciences.

In turn, the international lawyer and honorary lawyer of Russia Valery Vanin recalled that article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which criminal cases were instituted, expressly provides for liability for disrespect to society and the dissemination of information about the days of military glory, the desecration of symbols of Russian military glory, committed publicly .

“Here it is obvious that the action“ Immortal Regiment ”can be reckoned among the symbols of Russia's military glory. When photographs of heroes are added to heroes' photos, because of which people died, this is certainly a desecration of memory, ”the lawyer said.

The public campaign "Immortal Regiment" is held in Russia and a number of countries near and far abroad to perpetuate the memory of participants and victims of World War II.

Traditionally, as part of the action, every year on May 9 or on the nearest dates, its participants walk through the streets of the column, carrying banners with photographs of their relatives, veterans.

The first action in a modern format took place on May 9, 2012 in Tomsk. About 6 thousand people marched around the city, carrying portraits of the participants in the war. In 2013, the action was already held in several dozen cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In 2015, according to various sources, 4 to 12 million people in Russia and 20 foreign countries, including Germany and the USA, took part in the actions of the Immortal Regiment. This year, in connection with the pandemic of the coronavirus infection COVID-19, the action was conducted in an online format.