Discredit is rock – Picture of the day – Kommersant
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The leader of the rock group DDT, Yuri Shevchuk, was found guilty by a court in Ufa of discrediting the Russian army (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) and fined 50 thousand rubles. The report on the musician was drawn up by the police in May 2022 after a concert in the capital of Bashkiria. The defense insisted: Yuri Shevchuk is a pacifist who had previously spoken out against the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, and at his concert in Ufa did not mention the words “army” or “Russian armed forces.” Representatives of the prosecution noted that the phrase “Napoleonic plans” also implies the pursuit of an aggressive policy with the help of the armed forces, weapons of mass destruction. Yuri Shevchuk made it clear to Kommersant that the current persecution reminds him of the times “when rock was actually” banned.
Employees of department No. 7 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Ufa drew up a protocol against Yuri Shevchuk on May 18, 2022 after a concert in this city, during which the leader of DDT, in particular, stated that “Motherland is not the president’s ass to procrastinate and kiss her,” and the phrases appeared on the screens: “Do not shoot” (this is the name of one of the most famous songs of “DDT”) and “No to war”. The next day, the material on bringing Yuriy Shevchuk to administrative responsibility under Part 1 of Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation) entered the Sovetsky District Court of the Bashkir capital, which transferred the case to the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg – at the place of residence of the accused.
On May 30, it became known that the materials returned back to Ufa. The Petersburg court then found that the protocol did not describe the event of the offense, and also did not indicate what exactly the public calls for obstructing the use of the RF Armed Forces were expressed. A new protocol was drawn up against Yuri Shevchuk. A month and a half later, the Dzerzhinsky District Court again returned the case to Ufa.
Yuri Shevchuk did not participate at the court session. His lawyer Alexander Peredruk explained that the musician is in quarantine due to contact with patients with coronavirus infection. Mr. Peredruk also said that his client has not yet received a copy of the protocol, and this is a procedural offense.
Oleg Yermolaev, an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkiria, in response, asked to attach materials indicating, according to him, that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg took measures to notify Yuri Shevchuk about the protocol. “The departure was made. Yesterday Shevchuk was absent from his place of residence,” the policeman said and added that the leader of the DDT was notified both by phone and via instant messengers.
The petition caused bewilderment from the lawyer of the musician. He suspected that the police were trying to retroactively correct shortcomings in the case file so that it would be impossible to terminate it on administrative procedural grounds.
“We had a court session in the Sovetsky District Court, the materials of the case were repeatedly considered by the Dzerzhinsky District Court,” he specified. “And now, when the case is under consideration on the merits, the police are trying to hand over a copy of the protocol to my client. This suggests that they do not deny the fact that this protocol was not handed to him earlier and there are no documents confirming the opposite.” The judge of the Sovetsky District Court, Yulia Egorova, ultimately denied Mr. Ermolaev’s request.
Alexander Peredruk asked to attach the expertise of linguist Elena Novozhilova. The expert, the lawyer emphasized, did not find discrediting the army in the words of his client. The judge granted the request.
Mr. Peredruk, meanwhile, began interrogating an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rashida Kamalova, who drew up an administrative protocol against the musician. She said that she ensured the safety of the audience at the concert and heard the controversial phrases of Yuri Shevchuk.
“What words of Shevchuk discredited the army?” the lawyer asked. “We are against war.” Subsequently, I asked him a clarifying question, what kind of war does he mean? He said that in Ukraine,” Rashida Kamalova replied. Alexander Peredruk asked to clarify at what point in the performance the musician specified this. “In the second part of his statements,” the police officer replied. “Why do you think these two parts of his speech have a connection? Taking into account the fact that three hours have passed between the words, ”the defender asked, to which Rashida Kamalova replied that the concert was one.
“And if he said these words the next day, could it be considered that this is one offense?” – Alexander Peredruk did not retreat. “That would be a continuing offense,” Ms. Kamalova said.
“What if he says in a year? Can this also be added to the protocol? the lawyer asked. The employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs replied that she did not want to answer the last question. “You are a witness, you are obliged,” the lawyer reminded her, but did not insist on an answer.
During the debate, Mr. Peredruk spoke about the contradictions in the protocol drawn up by the police: it is impossible to understand from the document when the alleged offense was committed, to establish the date and city. The lawyer insisted that Yuri Shevchuk was a pacifist. The musician had previously opposed the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, and at his concert he did not mention the word “army” or the combination “Russian armed forces,” Alexander Peredruk emphasized. He suggested that the case be dismissed due to the lack of corpus delicti and evidence base.
Mr. Ermolaev argued during the debate that the time indicated in the protocol covered the period of the concert events, and the protocol itself was drawn up legally. In particular, the police spokesman quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the special operation “protecting the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security.”
These unshakable “democratic foundations” of the country, as Mr. Ermolaev said, “were called into question by Shevchuk” at the moment when he compared President Putin to Caesar, who has “Napoleonic plans.”
“If we turn to history, then Napoleonic plans, among other things, involve an aggressive policy with the help of the armed forces, weapons of mass destruction. In this case, the Armed Forces do not carry out these activities,” Mr. Yermolaev added.
Yuri Shevchuk, whom Kommersant asked to comment on the process, was brief. He said that the repeated transfers of the case from one court to another are connected with the resonance caused by his person. The musician made it clear that the current persecution is very reminiscent of the times “when rock was actually” banned.
The DDT leader’s defense intends to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Bashkiria.
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