Judge Tatyana Orekhova of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow fined the lead singer of the Pornofilmy group Vladimir Kotlyarov 50 thousand rubles under the article on “discrediting” the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). A Mediazona correspondent reports this from the courtroom.
The reason for drawing up a protocol against Kotlyarov was an interview with the Dozhd TV channel, which the musician gave on August 2, 2023. According to the prosecutor's office, in it he gave a negative assessment of the actions of the Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine.
The protocol also included an appeal from an unnamed State Duma deputy who demanded verification of Kotlyarov’s words. Apparently, we are talking about United Russia deputy Andrei Alshevskikh, who told RBC that he was approached by “concerned voters” who were outraged by the musician’s interview.
Lawyer Hakobyan drew the court’s attention to the fact that the case materials contain protocols for examining the Internet page on February 6 and March 11, 2024. Accordingly, more than 90 calendar days have passed since the discovery of the offense, the deadline for prosecution under the article on “discrediting the army” has expired.
Nevertheless, Judge Orekhova decided to fine Vladimir Kotlyarov in the amount requested by prosecutor Demin.
p>
The protocol against Vladimir Kotlyarov was received by the Tverskoy Court on May 23.
The Porn Films group condemned the military actions from the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “We are ashamed that our state behaves like an arrogant gopnik,” the musicians wrote in an open anti-war letter. Kotlyarov left Russia.
“Pornofilms” together with rapper Face participated in a charity concert in Georgia, the money from which was sent to help Ukrainians affected by the war. On June 4, the group performed in Berlin at a concert dedicated to the birthday of Alexei Navalny in support of political prisoners.
In September 2023, the Ministry of Justice added Vladimir Kotlyarov to the register of “foreign agents.” Soon, the song “This Will Pass” by the group “Pornofilmy”, written during the Moscow protests of 2019, was added to the register of prohibited sites and removed from Yandex.Music