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A student was arrested for naming his Wi-Fi network Slava Ukraini. (Photo: The Sun)
JAKARTA – A student in Moscow was sentenced to 10 days in prison for naming his Wi-Fi network with a pro-Ukrainian sentence. The Moscow State University student named his Wi-Fi network Slava Ukraini, which means Glory to Ukraine. The phrase has become a rallying cry for Ukrainian troops.
The Nikulinsky District Court found the unnamed student guilty. The court called the act a public demonstration of Nazi symbols or symbols of an extremist organization.
Reporting from UPI, Monday (11/3/2024), the student was arrested on Wednesday morning in his dormitory, after police found the name of the banned Wi-Fi network. Officers checked his room and found his personal computer and a Wi-Fi router.
The court reported that the student had used the network to promote the slogan Slava Ukraine! to an unlimited number of users within Wi-Fi range. The router has now been confiscated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed the existence of a neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine and has used those claims to justify his invasion.
The student is the latest victim in a long list of Russians who have been punished for comments or actions about the war against Ukraine. Hundreds of people were detained last month for laying flowers in memory of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a prison in the Arctic Circle.
Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has intensified its actions against people who express support for enemy countries. Thousands of people have been jailed or fined for actions deemed to support Ukraine. This conflict is required to be called a special military operation and not a war.
Human rights group Amnesty International said around 21,000 people had been victims of Russia's repressive laws used against anti-war activists. They also stressed that Russian courts had carried out unfair trials to silence critics.
(msf)