The Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk sent artist Vasily Slonov under house arrest for two months. An NGS24.ru correspondent reports this from the courtroom.
“It seemed to him that the tradition of holy fools was protecting him. It turned out that today he is no longer guarding.” What is known about the criminal case of the artist Slonov
A case was opened against the 54-year-old artist for displaying symbols of the prohibited “AUE movements” (Part 1 of Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code). The reason was that he posted on VKontakte a photo of his work — a tumbler with prison tattoos, including those in the form of “thieves’ stars.”
Last fall, Slonov was fined because the same work was exhibited at the Novotel hotel in Krasnoyarsk (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). The fine that came into force under the administrative article on the display of prohibited symbols allows, if there is a similar reason, to open a criminal case against a person.
On February 7, Slonov’s home and workshop were searched. At first he was released without a preventive measure, but was soon detained again — at the airport with tickets to Kazakhstan. The artist said in court that he was going to Almaty for an exhibition and planned to return in a week. The judge responded by reading out the case materials, according to which he bought a one-way ticket only. Because of this, the investigation demanded his arrest.
According to the artist, he was “shocked by the negative attitude” from investigators and operatives. “I was equated with Navalny, called an anti-government artist, hostile to the entire Russian people. Twice I heard the phrase behind my back: “I would have hit him…” — said Slonov. — I'm afraid of the investigators. If they hate me so much when I’m free, what can they do if I’m detained?”
Among other things, it was mentioned at the meeting that a letter in support of Slonov was written to the court by TV presenter Andrei Malakhov.