August 19, 2020

Two Russians will serve terms in labour camp for "display of disrespect" to President Vladimir Putin

topic:	Freedom of Expression
located:	Russia
editor:	Igor Serebryany

A court in the city of Perm in the western Urals on Tuesday, 18 August, sentenced three men in their 20s for publicly displaying an effigy of President Vladimir Putin in a "humiliating manner."

All defendants denied any wrongdoing, saying their action was of "purely artistic" nature. The prosecutors insisted the defendants attempted to "publicly humiliate" the president, who in July effectively secured his life term in the Kremlin after a referendum which has widely believed to have been rigged.

One of the young men, Alexander Shabarchin, aged 22, will spend two years in a labour camp on hooliganism charges, the other man, 19-years-old Danila Vasiliev, received a suspended term, while the third, 26-year-old Alexander Etkin, was acquitted. About 70 people gathered in front of the court chanting slogans in support of the defendants. They, along with reporters, were denied entrance to the courtroom, ostensibly due to coronavirus restrictions. The sentence will be appealed by the lawyers.

A fake Putin, dressed in a prison robe and hanging from a lamp pole with the plates "War criminal" and "Liar" pinned to his chest, was filmed by the group. The effigy was removed by police an hour later. The film also shows a masked young man posing as Vladimir Putin in a fast food restaurant with an armed policeman (also an actor) chasing him.

The 7-minute video was uploaded online and became viral immediately, collecting over 586,000 views with 52,000 likes (and 1,500 dislikes). Its creators warned that the footage's purpose was to "entertain, not offend." The video caption also read "Please don't imprison us." The video opens with real remarks by Putin: "They all will bite the dust and we, the martyrs, will go to Heaven." The Russian president made those famous remarks in 2018 when referring to the possible outcome of the nuclear war between Russia and the United States.

According to the 'linguistic expertise' conducted by Perm State University by the court's order, the action was "pre-planned" and aimed at "open display of disrespect to the president." In the courtroom the experts blatantly declared they supported Vladimir Putin and believed the defendants were supporters of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

Remarkably, the expertise conducted by the Perm region's Interior Ministry found nothing illegal in the footage but the court turned down that opinion.

Image by Дмитрий Осипенко

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