Parents fined £24 for not standing during the Russian national anthem

A court in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic in Russia, fined parents who did not stand up from their chairs while playing the Russian anthem. Their offence might not have received such serious consequences if someone had not reported them.

The students' parents were judged based on an article concerning the violation of the procedure for the official use of state symbols. Judge Robert Zhurtov of the Nalchik district court in Kabardino-Balkaria fined them two thousand four hundred roubles (£24).

The offence was that during a ceremony at school No. 33, they did not get up from their chairs during the performance of the Russian anthem. The parents of eight students were judged based on an administrative article for violating the procedure for the official use of state symbols.

The court hearing occurred because, in early July, State Duma Deputy from United Russia Andrei Kartapolov published two videos from the school ceremony in Nalchik on his Telegram channel. The recording shows several people sitting while the Russian anthem plays.

The deputy wrote that he submitted a request "to the relevant authorities" because he considered it a "demonstrative act of disrespect for the national anthem." The reaction came the very next day. Kartapolov thanked them.

Source: Mediazona.ru