A resident of Udmurtia who is being tried for a comment about a minister had a hysterical outburst in the courtroom.

      In Yekaterinburg the Central District Military Court on Tuesday, September 23 continued to hear the criminal case of Udmurtia resident Evgenia Rogozina* (*listed in the Rosfinmonitoring register of terrorists and extremists), who is being tried over a remark addressed to the Russian Minister of Agriculture under a post about butter prices.

      The Russian Minister of Agriculture, Oksana Lut, it should be recalled, had earlier explained the rise in butter prices by growing prosperity among the population. A saleswoman from Mozhga, Evgenia Rogozina, commenting on a VKontakte post on the subject, used a well-known Internet meme which investigators interpreted as calls for terrorist activity (part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

      During the hearing it emerged that the defendant had originally been placed under house arrest. However, she violated its terms and the preventive measure was changed to detention. Evgenia was transferred from Mozhga to pre-trial detention center No. 5 (SIZO-5) in Yekaterinburg.

      In addition, the prosecution presented other material to the court portraying the woman negatively. She had previously faced administrative charges for theft from a Magnit store and for assaulting her minor daughters (Rogozina’s children are 12 and 17 years old).

      The criminal case was opened in February. At today’s hearing the woman had a hysterical episode. She shouted, “Let me go home,” writes EAN.

      It was earlier reported that human rights activists from the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (SPCh) handed Minister Oksana Lut a letter from Evgenia in which she asks to be forgiven for thoughtless words spoken in the heat of the moment.

      Evgenia Rogozina’s criminal case has become one of the most high-profile cases opened on the basis of Internet comments. Human rights defenders in Yekaterinburg and Moscow are following the woman’s fate.