The case against the second Voina activist was dropped

On October 13, 2011, it became known that the criminal prosecution of the leader of the Voina art group Oleg Vorotnikov in one of the two criminal cases brought against him had been terminated. Earlier, on October 11, 2011, the case against Voina activist Leonid Nikolaev was dismissed on the same grounds.

Case on charges under paragraph "b" of Part 1 of Art. 213 (hooliganism motivated by hatred of a social group) was closed during the “Palace Coup” action : an independent examination did not recognize the police officers as a social group, and therefore the activist’s actions “do not see signs of a crime.” The investigation also refused to prosecute Vorotnikov and Nikolaev under Part 1 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberate destruction or damage to property) “since the property damage caused by the actions of the latter is not significant for the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region as a legal entity.”

Meanwhile, a second criminal case against Vorotnikov is being investigated - on charges of attacking a police officer and insulting him during the unauthorized rally "Strategy-31" on March 31, 2011 in St. Petersburg. He was arrested in absentia in this case and is now wanted.

We welcome the decision to terminate the criminal prosecution, since we did not consider Vorotnikov’s charge under paragraph 6 of Part 1 of Art. 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is lawful. From our point of view, law enforcement officers are not subject to protection as a separate social group, in addition, we believe that the article “Hooliganism” should not include crimes motivated by hatred.

You can read more about our point of view here . Sources

• Investigators closed the case against the leader of the Voina art group // Lenta.ru. 2011. October 13.
• The criminal case against the activist of the art group “War” Oleg Vorotnikov was discontinued (DOCUMENT) // Open Information Agency. 2011. October 13.