Two Primorye Residents to Be Tried for Desecrating Russian Flag

Two residents of Dalnegorsk publicly desecrated the state flag of Russia. The press service of the Primorye Krai prosecutor«s office reported that the charges in the criminal case have already been approved and sent to a magistrate judge.

According to the investigation, the incident occurred on January 26 of last year on the summit of Gorbushinskaya Sopka in one of the residential districts of Dalnegorsk. The young men, born in 2003 and 2004, together tore down the tricolor from «Pik Verbovannykh», carried the banner into a forested area, and demonstratively drew on it with a marker. The inscriptions and drawings, according to the supervisory authority, contained «signs of desecration and defilement of the State Flag of the Russian Federation.»

They completed the act of desecration against one of the state symbols in the same forest — they threw the flag on the ground and buried it in the snow.

A criminal case was opened against both individuals under Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code — «Desecration of the State Flag of the Russian Federation». The sanctions for committing this crime provide for restriction of freedom for up to one year, or forced labor for the same term, or arrest for a term of three to six months, or deprivation of freedom for up to one year.

The press service of the prosecutor«s office noted that the defilement of the tricolor in Dalnegorsk became known thanks to the work of employees of the territorial subdivision of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia for Primorye Krai. They also established the identities and detained the young men.