Gen Irina Yurevna

In Penza in March 2022, a criminal case was opened against 45-year-old English teacher Irina Gen. She was accused of spreading "fakes" about the Russian army out of political hatred and using her official position. According to the investigation, on March 18, 2022, during a conversation with eighth-grade students, Gen, answering a question about why athletes would not go to competitions in Europe, condemned the war in Ukraine. In particular, she was charged with statements about the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol. The investigation considered this to be the spread of knowingly false information, since the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation refuted this information. A conversation was recorded on a dictaphone, the audio recording of the dialogue was published by the media, after which a criminal case was opened against Gen 10 days later. The defendant in the case was taken under a written undertaking not to leave during the investigation. On August 3, 2022, the Leninsky District Court of Penza found Irina Gen guilty and sentenced her to 5 years of imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years and a ban on engaging in teaching activities for 3 years. The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force. 9 July 2024 the Leninsky District Court of Penza denied Gen's petition to cancel the suspended sentence before the end of the probationary period and remove the criminal record.