An 18-year-old man has become the first person punished under a new Russian law which bans adults from encouraging minors to take part in illegal protests.<\/p>\n
Ivan Luzin was first charged after a protest in Kaliningrad last month.<\/p>\n
Luzin\u00a0told local rights group OVD-Info<\/a>\u00a0he had acted alone and that two 16-year-old girls with him had only been there to take photos.<\/p>\n He has been fined 20,000 rubles (\u00a3235; $311) and says he will appeal.<\/p>\n Luzin – a supporter of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – had reportedly been holding a sign in support of two jailed activists allegedly tortured by police.<\/p>\n “Initially, I planned to go on a single picket,”\u00a0he told Radio Svoboda last month.<\/a>.<\/p>\n “When the girls decided to come too, I realized that it was impossible to hold a picket. We decided to just take a picture. Everything took no more than ten minutes.”<\/p>\n The three were later held and questioned by police. Luzin spent 24 hours in custody, while the two girls were allowed to go home.<\/p>\n Under the law<\/a>, passed in December, offenders face fines, community service orders, or up to 15 days’ prison time if found guilty.<\/p>\n It was proposed amid concern by the Kremlin about protests by young people, including supporters of Mr Navalny.<\/p>\n Russia’s constitution protects the right to public protest, but a law passed in 2014 gives authorities the power to jail and fine protestors for “unauthorised” demonstrations.<\/p>\n In September last year,\u00a0more than 800 people were detained by police<\/a>\u00a0after protests across the country against plans to increase retirement age.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"