Watchdog

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- A court in Russia's Far East has fined a protester for holding a poster citing a popular rock star's recent quip that crudely warned citizens not to blindly follow President Vladimir Putin.

Georgy Kakabadze told RFE/RL on July 20 that the Pervorechensky district court in the city of Vladivostok ordered him to pay a 40,000 ruble ($710) fine for the poster, which said: "The motherland is not the president's a*s."

The phrase became a popular slogan after Yury Shevchuk, the leader and front man of DDT, one of Russia's most popular rock groups, told the audience at a concert in May: "The motherland is not the president's ass, which one must lather and kiss all the time."

"The motherland is a beggar, an old woman that sells potatoes at the railway station. That is what motherland is," he said.

Kakabadze also told RFE/RL that the court banned the phrase "a*s" from slogans, saying it carries elements of contempt for authorities.

Kakabadze's lawyer, Sergei Valiullin, told RFE/RL that he will appeal the court's decision.

In May, after a video of Shevchuk talking about the war at the concert went viral on social media, several protests against Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine were held in Vladivostok with many repeating the slogan: "The motherland is not the president's ass."

Shevchuk, who over the years has challenged Putin’s decisions, was charged with discrediting the army for his comments about Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the motherland.

In April, authorities in the Siberian city of Tyumen canceled a DDT concert in the city after Shevchuk refused to perform on a stage decorated with a huge "Z" -- a sign of support for Russia's war against Ukraine.

The Tehran Police Department has announced disciplinary action against a police team that arrested a girl for disregarding mandatory hijab rules even as her mother pleaded with them to release her child because she was sick.

A video of the arrest by a morality police unit went viral on social networks on July 19, sparking angry reactions as the mother begged and cried while pleading with the officers to release her daughter from the police car due to her illness.

In the video, the mother can be seen standing in front of a police van trying to stop it from leaving with her daughter. As she pleads for her child's release, the van begins to drive slowly forward, eventually knocking her to the ground.

The girl was arrested for not wearing what the Iranian authorities call a “proper hijab.”

The police department gave no details about the case, saying only that the officers were disciplined due to "wrongful contact with a citizen."

Iran's notorious Guidance Patrols, or morality police, have become increasingly active and violent in recent months, with videos emerging on social media appearing to show officers detaining women, forcing them into vans, and whisking them away.

The hijab first became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years in protest and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

With reporting and writing by Ardeshir Tayebi