Distorted face of justice: why the burner of the Koran is sent to Chechnya

19-year-old resident of Volgograd Nikita Zhuravel, who was arrested for burning the Koran, was brought to Chechnya. At the walls of the pre-trial detention center in Grozny, he was met by people who called for a “people’s court.” Was such an “educational measure” meant by those high-ranking officials who, contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure, decided to change the territorial jurisdiction?

Burning the holy book of Muslims the Quran, recording it all on video, which is then posted on the Internet – all this is vile from beginning to end. And this is an illegal act, for which Russia provides for punishment in accordance with part 2 of article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: “Public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed in order to insult the religious feelings of believers.”

This crime, according to the Criminal Code, is of minor gravity (the sanction is up to three years in prison), which means that a measure of restraint in the form of detention should not be chosen.

Despite this, Nikita was arrested. And the criminal case itself, by decision of the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, was transferred to Chechnya. And as a result, the prisoner was also taken there. At the same time, the motive was “mass appeals of residents of Chechnya with a request to recognize them as victims in this case.”

“Despite the high public outcry of this criminal case, the rules of territorial jurisdiction are clearly defined by Art. 152 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, which does not contain grounds for changing it, applicable to the Zhuravel case. An arbitrary change in territorial jurisdiction creates significant prerequisites for a repeated, systematic distortion of the meaning of the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation for the purpose of “political expediency”. This will negatively affect the observance of human rights in Russia,” such an appeal to me, as a member of the Human Rights Council, was written by Russian lawyers. Their worries are entirely justified. I’ll try to explain.

Let’s start with the Constitution. It contains lines about the fact that everyone is equal before the law and the court. I quote: “The state guarantees the equality of rights and freedoms of man and citizen, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin.”

The place of preliminary investigation (the so-called territorial jurisdiction) is determined by Article 152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation – at the place where the crime was committed. In exceptional cases, on a reasoned decision of the head of a higher investigative body, a criminal case may be transferred for a preliminary investigation to a higher investigative body.

What follows from this? Firstly, Bastrykin had every right to refer the case for investigation to his central office, but not to send it to another region.

Secondly, in general, changing the jurisdiction is an exceptional measure, and is usually applied in order to ensure the impartiality of the proceedings.

Were there any grounds for believing that the investigation in Volgograd was “biased”? If they were, no one knows about them. Is there any reason to believe that the investigation in Chechnya will be impartial? Alas, no, since it was the Chechen department of the Investigative Committee that asked them to hand over Nikita.

In any case, the transfer of Zhuravel to Chechnya was too demonstrative. And, as experts note, it can lead to the radicalization of public dialogues (and then actions). And this is definitely not necessary for reasonable people, no matter what faith they may be.

The well-known lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov wrote in his channel: “I am a Muslim, what Zhuravel did is disgusting and unacceptable. My faith and, especially, Islam did not become weaker because of this … At the same time, I believe that justice has one face, which should turn to everyone. And no matter how strange it may seem, even to criminals.

And another moment. The Ministry of Justice has developed (has been in force for a long time) a revolutionary law, according to which all convicts have the right to serve their sentence at their place of residence. After that, thousands of prisoners were transferred to the regions where they themselves or their relatives lived.

This is one of the most humane and social measures that have been taken in modern Russia. And how, then, should we evaluate the words of an official of the Ministry of Justice that if Zhuravel serves time in a colony in a Muslim region, this will allegedly contribute to respect for religion and the religious feelings of believers in Russia? Does one hand destroy what was sown with the other?

“Selective” justice is dangerous for the whole society, and the case of 19-year-old Nikita may open (if not already opened) our own “Pandora’s box”.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29039 dated May 30, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Distorted face of justice