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The Ordynsky District Court in Novosibirsk Region has fined seven residents of the village of Kozikha, who participated in protests against the confiscation of their livestock, 12,000 roubles (approximately US$130) each. This information was published on the court’s website and was highlighted by the news agency “Agentstvo.”
All seven—Ivan Skosyrsky, Svetlana Borisenko, Tatyana Andriyanou, Sergey and Mikhail Andrinov, Mikhail Vyguzov, and Ivan Kuzin—were charged with organising a mass presence of citizens in public places (Article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences), according to the records on the court’s website.
One of Agentstvo’s sources said that on 11 March, those fined were present during an attempt to stop machinery that had arrived to dig a burial pit at the local enterprise “Vodoley.”
“What’s happening now, I couldn’t have imagined even in my worst nightmares. I never thought such horrors would happen in our country. We feel like everyone who speaks out is being punished,” a local resident told Agentstvo.
The culling of animals began back in February. It only became clear yesterday that a state of emergency was declared in the region at that time. Publicly, the authorities are explaining these events as a response to outbreaks of pasteurellosis and rabies. However, when visiting the villages, officials refuse to specify the disease for which they are planning to cull the animals, citing an order from the governor marked “for official use only.”
Farmers insist that their cows and other animals do not show symptoms of illness. Moreover, pasteurellosis is treated with antibiotics and does not require mandatory culling. Sources from Kommersant in the agricultural market expressed concern that the real issue might be foot-and-mouth disease, which poses a threat to the export of meat and dairy products abroad.
You can read more about the situation in Novosibirsk Region at the following link.