Source: www.forum18.org
Date: November 7, 2022
Yekaterinburg-based artist Ivan Lyubimov has been fined three times for
"discrediting" Russia's armed forces for protesting against Russia's war in
Ukraine with posters with religious themes. Police have also taken him to
court twice for conducting an illegal demonstration and jailed him for 30
days. A Moscow court fined 72-year-old Catholic Galina Borisova for pinning
a note to the Russian flag outside St Louis' Church. Another Moscow court
acquitted district deputy Konstantin Yankauskas, saying that reposting Pope
Francis' words on social media had not "discredited" the army.
RUSSIA: Administrative fines continue for Ukraine war protests
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
Almost all administrative prosecutions for opposing Russia's invasion of
Ukraine from a religious perspective have ended in convictions and fines,
Forum 18 has found. Only one person has been acquitted, while another's
case was closed because too much time had passed since the alleged offence.
Similarly, appeals in higher courts are almost invariably unsuccessful.
Among prosecutions for opposing Russia's renewed war on Ukraine,
Yekaterinburg-based artist Ivan Lyubimov has been convicted and fined three
times for "discreditation" of Russia's armed forces for protesting with
posters with religious themes. Police have also taken him to court twice on
charges of conducting an illegal demonstration (see below).
Courts have handed Lyubimov four fines totalling nearly three months'
average local wage and, in September, for a non-religious protest,
sentenced him to jail ("administrative arrest") for 30 days (see below).
Two of Lyubimov's anti-war posters included Biblical quotations, while
another included a quotation from the English Metaphysical poet John Donne.
In one of the cases, the judge claimed: "In his written explanations
Lyubimov indicated that, in his opinion, in the current situation, the
Russian Federation is the aggressor, and therefore is responsible for all
the suffering of people in Ukraine" (see below).
On 25 August, a Moscow court fined 72-year-old Catholic parishioner Galina
Borisova for "discreditation" of Russia's armed forces to punish her for
pinning a piece of paper to the Russian flag outside the door of St Louis'
Catholic Church. The paper read "No bellum" and "There is no place for the
flag of an aggressor state beside the flag of the Holy See". The police
identified her using facial recognition technology. Borisova is the first
Russian Catholic known by Forum 18 to have been prosecuted for her
religious opposition to the war in Ukraine (see below).
The Moscow authorities often use facial recognition technology, for example
to identify anti-government demonstrators or men evading mobilisation
(https://www.hrw.org/news/2022
In contrast, on 1 September, a Moscow court acquitted Konstantin
Yankauskas, an independent municipal district deputy, of "discrediting" the
Russian Armed Forces by posting on social media (without comment) the text
of an address by Pope Francis, including the remark: "In the name of God, I
ask you: stop this massacre!" The judge noted that "it is impossible to
conclude that the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has
been discredited" by quoting the Pope's remarks (see below).
A court in Krasnodar Region closed the case against Russian Orthodox
(Moscow Patriarchate) priest Maksim Nagibin – who gave an anti-war sermon
at Easter – because the time for administrative prosecutions had run out
(see below).
Despite the high likelihood of detention, administrative charges, and
fines, and the danger of criminal prosecution
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"discredited" the Armed Forces more than once in a year, small numbers of
Russians continue to protest against the war on the basis of faith.
As of 21 October, independent Russian media outlet Mediazona recorded 4,777
prosecutions under the new Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation").
Of these, 24 are known by Forum 18 to have involved religious arguments,
religious imagery, or quotations from the Bible or religious figures
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
received fines in first-instance courts, 1 person was acquitted, 1 case was
closed because the statute of limitations had expired, and 3 cases are yet
to be considered.
Police have also brought cases against protesters under various Parts of
Administrative Code Article 20.2
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
established procedure for organising or holding a meeting, rally,
demonstration, march or picket"). Forum 18 is aware of 3 prosecutions under
Article 20.2, Part 5 for the expression of explicitly religious opposition
to the war.
The police in various regions of Russia – who are responsible for taking
alleged offenders to court under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 –
have repeatedly failed to answer Forum 18's enquiries as to why the
peaceful expression of religious views on the war in Ukraine is considered
"discreditation" of the Armed Forces. Similarly, no court has yet answered
this question.
Between 24 February and 24 October, OVD-Info recorded 19,347 detentions of
people protesting against the invasion of Ukraine and latterly against the
"partial mobilisation" of men (announced on 21 September).
Criminal prosecutions for opposing Russia's war
Opposing Russia's war publicly can also lead to criminal prosecution. As of
24 October, there had been 107 prosecutions under Criminal Code Article
207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in
order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens
[and] maintain international peace and security") and 27 prosecutions under
Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its
citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security"), according to
OVD-Info's figures.
Among these, are:
- Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov – next due to appear at Kalinin District Court in
St Petersburg on 14 November
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
- Nina Belyayeva – she spoke out against Russia's war during a meeting of
her local council, and has now fled abroad
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
- Fr Nikandr Pinchuk – a court in Sverdlovsk Region fined him about two
months' average local wage on 17 October for a social media post
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Yekaterinburg: Multiple "discreditation" fines
In Yekaterinburg, artist Ivan Leonidovich Lyubimov has regularly protested
against Russia's invasion and its conduct in Ukraine, and has been
convicted and fined three times under Article 20.3.3 for anti-war posters
with religious themes. Police have also taken him to court twice under
various Parts of Article 20.2. The first time he was fined; the second,
sentenced to 30 days' administrative arrest.
On 1 June, the city's Lenin District Court fined Lyubimov 40,000 Roubles
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
local wages) for displaying a poster (on 14 May in the city centre) which
quoted Genesis 4:10 ("The Lord said, 'What have you done? The voice of your
brother's blood cries out to me from the ground') and called for war
criminals to be put on trial. He appealed unsuccessfully at Sverdlovsk
Regional Court on 4 August.
(Police next detained Lyubimov on 27 May for a poster citing UN civilian
casualty figures for Ukraine alongside an icon-like image of the Virgin of
the Seven Sorrows, surrounded by the names of Ukrainian towns, but released
him without charge (https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 24 August, Judge Olga Chernykh of Verkh-Isetsky District Court twice
found Lyubimov guilty under Article 20.3.3 and handed him two fines of
45,000 Roubles (each nearly one month's average local wage) for separate
protests.
In the first of these, on 23 June, Lyubimov stood at the rotunda in
Yekaterinburg's Historical Square with a poster which quoted (in Russian)
English Metaphysical poet John Donne's "No man is an island" (part of
Meditation 17, from Donne's "Devotions upon emergent occasions"). The text
appeared in the shape of a bell, with the lines "any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind" underlined in red. The poster also
stated that "Since 24 February in Ukraine 10,308 civilians have been killed
or wounded" (the figure as published by the United Nations Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 21 June).
Lyubimov stated in court that his goal was not to "discredit" the Russian
armed forces, but "to show the value of each individual life" and "to
inform society about the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe since 24 February
2022, since in connection with the armed attack of the Russian Federation
on Ukraine, the civilian population has involuntarily found itself at the
epicentre of hostilities".
Judge Chernykh, however, disagreed that Lyubimov had not aimed to
"discredit" the armed forces, "since from the presented poster follows the
opposite. In his written explanations Lyubimov indicated that, in his
opinion, in the current situation, the Russian Federation is the aggressor,
and therefore is responsible for all the suffering of people in Ukraine".
In his next religiously themed protest, on 26 July (also in Historical
Square), Lyubimov used another poster citing UN-OHCHR casualty figures
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
in Ukraine 12,272 civilians have become victims of the war"), and an image
which, as he explained in court, was an adaptation of the icon subject "The
vine grower" or "True vine" [Vinogradar / Loza istinnaya].
Lyubimov's image depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus after
he had been taken down from the Cross. A vine grows out of the wound in
Jesus' side, which "means resurrection, the triumph of life over death", as
Lyubimov noted in court. Several of the vine's branches on the poster end
in the names and coats of arms of the Ukrainian towns of Odessa, Bucha,
Vinnytsia, Chasiv Yar, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.
Lyubimov stated in court that he believes that the civilian population of
Ukraine has been "daily subjected to physical and moral suffering since 24
February 2022, being directly at the epicentre of hostilities". The six
coats of arms draw attention to the worst civilian losses: "There is no one
to mourn their fate or stand up for them, as was the case for Jesus during
Pilate's trial."
"However, at the base [of the poster] is a quotation from Luke 20:38 ["Now
he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are
alive"] which still gives hope to all who suffer", Lyubimov concluded.
Judge Chernykh again disagreed with Lyubimov's argument that his purpose
was not to "discredit" the armed forces, but "to convey to society the
monstrous number of civilian casualties", according to "the desire and need
of his conscience". She repeated her conclusion that "from the presented
poster follows the opposite. In his written explanations Lyubimov indicated
that, in his opinion, in the current situation, the Russian Federation is
the aggressor, and therefore is responsible for all the suffering of people
in Ukraine."
Lyubimov made unsuccessful appeals against these two convictions at
Sverdlovsk Regional Court on 12 October (the "True Vine" poster) and 26
October (the John Donne poster).
Forum 18 wrote to Sverdlovsk Region Interior Ministry, Verkh-Isetsky
District Court, and Lenin District Court before the start of the working
day of 3 November, asking why United Nations casualty figures, a quotation
from John Donne, Biblical quotations, and religious imagery were considered
to be "discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces.
Only Lenin District Court had responded by the end of the working day of 7
November. Judge Olga Savinova, chair of the court, did not answer Forum
18's question, but only confirmed the factual details of Lyubimov's
conviction, fine, and unsuccessful appeal.
(Police apparently first detained Lyubimov on 24 February for shouting
anti-war slogans at a protest in Yekaterinburg's Lenin Square. On 22 April,
the city's Railway District Court fined him 15,000 Roubles under
Administrative Code Article 20.2, Part 5 - he made an unsuccessful appeal
on 29 June. On 22 September, he protested against the "partial
mobilisation" with a poster which read "Is everything going to plan?" and
was detained again by police. The next day, Verkh-Isetsky District Court
found him guilty under Article 20.2, Part 8, which punishes a repeat
offence under Article 20.2, Parts 1-6.1, and sentenced him to 30 days'
"administrative arrest", deemed to begin on the previous evening. Lyubimov
appealed unsuccessfully at Sverdlovsk Regional Court on 29 September.)
Moscow: First Catholic punished for anti-war protest?
On 25 August, Meshchansky District Court in Moscow fined 72-year-old
Catholic parishioner Galina Borisova an unknown amount under Article
20.3.3, Part 1. She does not appear to have lodged an appeal, according to
the Moscow court system website.
Borisova, who is an actor and a parishioner of the Catholic Church of St
Louis in the capital, went to the church on 3 July and pinned a piece of
paper to a Russian flag
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
paper read "No bellum" and "There is no place for the flag of an aggressor
state beside the flag of the Holy See". A nun removed the paper after a few
minutes, by which time about 50 people arriving for mass had already seen
it, according to posts on the parish Facebook group.
Borisova's action was picked up on municipal CCTV and she was identified by
facial recognition technology, she explained on 21 July in the Facebook
group. The nun who removed the paper from the flag also commented in the
Facebook group, noting that the police had "rummaged through the rubbish
bin and found the torn-up note", and asked the priest to write an
explanatory note as the incident had happened at his church.
Police came to Borisova's home on 20 July and took her to a police station,
where they charged her with "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces.
Forum 18 wrote to Meshchansky District Court and the Moscow city branch of
the Interior Ministry before the start of the working day of 3 November,
asking why they considered Borisova's action to be "discreditation" of the
Russian Armed Forces. Forum 18 had received no reply by the end of the
working day in Moscow of 7 November.
Borisova is the first Russian Catholic known by Forum 18 to have been
prosecuted for her religious opposition to the war in Ukraine.
On 31 July, Borisova noted on her Facebook page that the church had removed
the flag, calling this "a small victory, but a victory all the same".
"Discreditation" cases: More unsuccessful appeals
- Kaluga
Aleksandr Yuryevich Ivanov, who was found guilty under Article 20.3.3, Part
1 for posting an anti-war statement on the homepage of the online Orthodox
encyclopaedia he edits, appealed unsuccessfully at Kaluga Regional Court on
14 September. Kaluga District Court had fined him 45,000 Roubles
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
average local wage) on 29 July.
The statement, which appeared at the top of every page of drevo-info.ru
between 25 February and 6 July, asserted that Russia had invaded Ukraine
"on a far-fetched pretext" and that "This is not a 'special operation',
this is a war", and accused the Russian church hierarchy of being "cowardly
and silent". It went on to demand an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of
Russian troops from Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18 wrote to Kaluga Region Interior Ministry
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Ivanov's statement made before Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 entered
legal force was considered grounds for prosecution, and why the expression
of a position on events in Ukraine and war in general was deemed to
"discredit" the Russian Armed Forces. Forum 18 received no response by the
end of the working day in Kaluga on 7 November.
As a result of Ivanov's prosecution, he was forced to shut down the site's
news section, which had reported on the destruction of churches in Ukraine
and on the declaration of autonomy by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow
Patriarchate) in May (among a range of religion-related stories), and had
reposted anti-war statements from Orthodox leaders outside Russia.
In place of the anti-war statement, the encyclopaedia now has a header with
a quotation from 1 John 3:15 ("Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and
you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him").
- Khabarovsk
On 28 July, Khabarovsk activist Nikolay Kamenshchikov (Zodchy) appealed
unsuccessfully at Khabarovsk Regional Court against the fine of 30,000
Roubles (two weeks' average local wages) he received on 11 May
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Police had charged Kamenshchikov under Article 20.3.3, Part 1 after he made
an anti-war speech in the city's Lenin Square
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Footage of Kamenshchikov's protest, posted on the SOTAvision YouTube
channel, shows him holding a poster which reads "Russian! Conquer the
vatnik in yourself!" ("Vatnik" is slang for an unquestioning, jingoistic
nationalist; he used a Latin letter V in reference to the pro-war "V" and
"Z" symbols which have become popular signs of support for Russia's war in
Ukraine.)
Addressing passers-by, Kamenshchikov says: "Those who ask, where have you
been for the last eight years, I want to ask, where are you now? Why are
you crying for the children of the Donbas and not for the children of
Ukraine? .. [To] many of you who are Orthodox and observe Christian
holidays, why do you put above all else the principle of an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth, although Jesus Christ taught that it is necessary
to love your neighbour and love your enemy? After all, Ukrainians are not
our enemies. This enmity exists only in the heads of Russians - it was sown
there by Putin. Ukrainians are our brothers in both the ethnic and the
Christian sense - therefore, to those who write that I should go to the
Donbas, you should go to Mariupol, Kharkiv, Bucha, and other towns and see
for yourself what the so-called 'Russian World' has done there."
"Discreditation" case: Acquittal
- Moscow
On 1 September, Moscow's Zyuzino District Court acquitted Konstantin
Stasisovich Yankauskas, an independent municipal deputy in the capital's
Zyuzino District, of "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces. Yankauskas
had posted on his VKontakte page (without comment) the text of an address
given by Pope Francis at the end of the Sunday Angelus at the Vatican on 13
March.
Although Yankauskas made the post on 14 March, police only charged him
under Article 20.3.3, Part 1 on 23 August. They claimed that the post
"called for obstruction" of the use of Russian troops in Ukraine, according
to the police protocol Yankauskas posted on his Facebook page on 23 August.
Judge Yekaterina Slyuzova concluded, however, that "from the literal
meaning of the [address], it is impossible to conclude that the use of the
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has been discredited", the
independent Spektr.press news website reported on 1 September.
The day he was charged, Yankauskas wrote on Facebook that the Pope's words
were "So simple and understandable for any believer, even just for any
person". "I don't really understand what to say in court", he added. "How
can a prayer for peace and life discredit someone? This is some kind of
absurdity and really an attempt to call white black."
In his 13 March address, the Pope noted that Mariupol bears the name of the
Virgin Mary and that it had become "a city of martyrs in the terrible war
ravaging Ukraine". He insisted that "this unacceptable armed aggression
must be stopped before it turns cities into cemeteries".
"In the name of God, let the cries of those who suffer be heard and let the
bombings and attacks cease! Let there be a real and decisive focus on
negotiation, and let the humanitarian corridors be effective and safe. In
the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!"
"Discreditation" case: Case closed
- Krasnodar Region
A court in Krasnodar Region in southern European Russia closed the case
against Russian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) priest Maksim Nagibin –
who gave an anti-war sermon at Easter – because the time for
administrative prosecutions had run out. Nagibin is the priest of the
Church of the Archangel Michael in Nadyozhnaya stanitsa.
Police opened a case under Article 20.3.3, Part 1 against Nagibin at end of
August, when they learned of two videos on the Odnoklassniki social network
which showed him preaching to his congregation the previous April.
"Perhaps I will become an outcast in the Russian Federation, and someone
here will not agree with my words, but this is my conviction," Nagibin said
in a video of the sermon on the Christians Against War Telegram channel on
25 April. "I do not impose this opinion on anyone, and God knows that until
now I have not spoken these words from the pulpit. I consider the war
against Ukraine a crime and a great shame, a shame that has made our
country an outcast on the world stage."
Nagibin went on to note that Victory Day has turned into a paradox when
people rejoice at new weapons rather than progress "in the spiritual
sphere, education, medicine, and social security". He concluded his sermon
with Easter greetings to both Russia and Ukraine.
Otradnaya District Court initially sent the case back on 1 September
because officers had not indicated in their report who had posted the video
or on what webpage. The police resubmitted the case on 29 September, but a
judge halted proceedings on 20 October because the statute of limitations
for administrative prosecutions had expired. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background see Forum 18's survey of the general state of freedom
of religion and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
18's survey of the dramatic decline in this freedom related to Russia's
Extremism Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
A personal commentary by the Director of the SOVA Center for Information
and Analysis (https://www.sova-center.ru), Alexander Verkhovsky, about the
systemic problems of Russian "anti-extremism" laws
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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