Russian woman fined for ‘Sex is cool, but Putin’s death better' text on tote bag

A Russian woman claimed she was fined by police for sharing the photo of a tote bag that said, 'Sex is cool, but President Putin's death is better'. The woman, Aleksandra, was asked to pay 30,000 rubles (approx. 25,872 Rupees) for “discrediting” the Russian military under a section of the Code of Administrative Offenses, The New York Post report said.

Aleksandra said that the charges on her were partly based on a collection of screenshots from her personal Instagram account, featuring a picture of a cotton bag with blue text in English that stated, "Sex is cool, but Putin's death is better." In addition, the images showcased a bag bearing the message "No to war" and other graffiti expressing opposition to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Officers in plainclothes visited her home in Krasnodar on June 28 and took her to the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where she was questioned. The woman alleged that she was compelled to reveal her tattoos to the officers, including one on her upper arm depicting a dog wearing a rainbow scarf with words that translate to "The dog is gay."

“They told me to raise the sleeves of my T-shirt, examined all my tattoos, asked me to translate what the inscriptions in English mean, and also took photos of my face and tattoos,” the woman said.

“It was funny to see the police officer say that the rainbow scarf tattoo was 100% propaganda..” human rights group Sphere quoted Aleksandra.

Aleksandra was also denied the opportunity to contact her lawyers. She was taunted by one of the police officials who questioned how her mother, who is a teacher, could have raised such an ill-mannered daughter.

The Magistrate's Court imposed a fine of over $2,000 (Rs. 1,65,367) in total for "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" and the charge of "discrediting."

“I cannot know exactly how they found me and why they were interested, but I think that someone wrote a denunciation, seeing that the page was open…I am sad that now, even on my small page in social networks, it has become objectionable and unsafe to express my opinion,” she was quoted as saying by The New York Post.

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