The organizer of the Moscow “naked party” was fined for “discrediting” the Russian army

A Russian TV presenter and blogger who organized a controversial "almost naked" celebrity party in December has been fined $542 for "discrediting" the Russian military.

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow found Anastasia Ivleeva guilty of “public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of Russia” and imposed a fine of 50 thousand rubles, reports the Telegram channel of the capital’s judicial system.

Repeated violation within one year is punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years.

The independent news outlet Mediazona reported that authorities filed a complaint against Ivleeva in March 2023.

According to Rusnews, a criminal case has been opened around Ivleeva’s Instagram post dated March 1, 2022, in which she called for Russian-Ukrainian negotiations to end the military conflict.

Ivleeva's defense argued that the statute of limitations had expired and said they planned to appeal the verdict.

Ivleeva, who denies the charges, did not attend the court hearing.

Russian courts have fined and jailed several activists under military censorship laws for “discrediting” the army and spreading “fake news” about it in the more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Ivleeva was hit with two separate lawsuits totaling billions of rubles for causing “moral suffering” while organizing the star-studded “almost naked” party on December 21. She and other celebrities apologized and were forced to take military action after the private event. .

Ivleeva announced in March that she plans to vote for President Vladimir Putin's re-election this month.

She is not known to have previously expressed her opinions on political issues, other than to express sympathy in the past for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.