In an unprecedented move, a Russian court has fined a local communist for slandering Emperor Nicholas II. On 16th August 2024, the Vlasovsky District Court of the Saratov Region found a 72-year-old local resident guilty of “publicly disseminating knowingly false information” about Russia’s last Tsar.

According to the case file, in January 2024, the man published 4 messages on his VKontakte social media page, in which he referred to Nicholas I as “bloody” . . . “the worst ruler in the history of Russia” among other libelous insults.

“It was established that the citizen – a devout communist – deliberately slandered the Holy Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, although he was aware of the monarch’s achievements – industrialization, economic growth and the introduction of the gold ruble,” said prosecutor Vsevolod Bronin.

The accused fully admitted his guilt and asked the court for leniency, as he committed his illegal actions “under the influence of Bolshevik propaganda, which he was duped by while he was studying.” Taking into account the advanced age and repentance of the pensioner, the court decided not to deprive the offender of liberty and limit himself only to a fine of 100 thousand rubles [$1,118 USD].

Recall that on 1st October 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation granted the judicial rehabilitation of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. Ninety years after a Bolshevik execution squad gunned down the last Tsar and his family, the country’s supreme court declared the Imperial family as “victims of political repression.” The regicide was condemned, and that the false accusations against the Tsar, that he was an enemy of the people…were at long last proven to be false.

© Paul Gilbert. 18 August 2024