Russia: a university professor fired after criticizing the conflict in Ukraine

UPDATE DAY

Russian justice has upheld the dismissal of a university professor sanctioned for posting online messages opposing the offensive in Ukraine, amid a crackdown on dissenting voices in Russia.

“Judge Tatiana Makarova refused (…) to give me my job back,” Roman Melnichenko said on his Facebook page on Friday, the day after the hearing in this case.

This 49-year-old law professor, whose two parents live in Ukraine, near the front, was fired in mid-April for “immorality” by the State University of Volgograd, in southwestern Russia.< /p>

He had been accused of having published on social networks, at the end of February and the beginning of March, messages against the offensive, accompanied in particular by a video showing the death of a little girl in a hospital of Mariupol.

At the request of his university, he had deleted these publications, before finally being dismissed. He then sued his former employer.

Contacted by AFP, Mr. Melnichenko denounced a “very significant” case of the situation in Russia. He claims that a representative of the university refused to present at trial any reason for the dismissal.

On June 7, Roman Melnichenko was also fined 30,000 rubles (550 dollars) , the amount of his monthly salary, for the publication of these messages against the offensive in Ukraine, described as “false information”.

Since February 24, dozens of people who have publicly criticized the offensive were prosecuted in Russia. Most have been fined, but others face heavy prison sentences.

In recent years, the few Russian teachers who challenge the Kremlin's conservative policies have come under increasing pressure and several d 'among them were dismissed for “immorality”. 

This reason for dismissal makes it almost impossible to obtain a new job in the Russian education system.