Powerful extremist

In Vladimir, the court postponed until November 21 the consideration of the case of the editor -in -chief of the Credo.ru portal Alexander Soldatov

On October 24, the October Court of Vladimir began to consider the case, the defendant is the editor -in -chief of the religious portal of Credo.ru Alexander Soldatov. Representatives of the prosecutor's office ask to recognize an extremist video posted on the portal in the winter of 2013. It is dedicated to attempts by bailiffs to remove the relics of saints Evfimiy and Euphrosynia Suzdal from the community of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. Soldatov himself regards this story as a way of pressure from the authorities.

At today's meeting, procedural issues were considered: the court granted the request of the prosecutor’s office to attract the authors of the video as the defendants of the journalists Mikhail Baranova and Anna Dombrovskaya. The consideration of the case was postponed until November 21, including in order for Alexander Soldatov and his defense to get acquainted with the case - they would not be done earlier.

The video that caused the claims of the prosecutor's office of Vladimir is a 30-minute report of the correspondents of the portal Credo.ru called "Equearing piety". He is dedicated to how the bailiffs try to withdraw from the parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, which does not obey the Moscow Patriarchate, the relics of saints Euphimium and Euphrosynia Suzdal. These events occurred two years ago-at the end of October 2012, the video itself was published on the Credo.ru portal in the winter of 2013, but the prosecutor’s head editor of the portal Alexander Soldatov made only now, after Vladimir Kirill visited Patriarch Kirill in September this year. In an interview with Radio, Freedom, Alexander Soldatov, said that he did not imagine that in this report, the authorities considered extremism, and hopes to look at the case file at least in court:

Alexander Soldatov

- On September 30, I received by mail a letter from the judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of the city of Vladimir, Ignatovich, where it was reported that on October 24 a meeting was scheduled on the proposal of the prosecutor of the city of Vladimir on the recognition of the preferential piety by extremist. Six documents were attached to this application: various materials of the examinations, the information received from the FSB in the Vladimir region. However, I received neither examinations nor this information by mail. My attempts to come to the Oktyabrsky District Court and there to read the case were unsuccessful. At first, the judge was on vacation and had to leave it on October 21, and then, when I went there on October 21, they told me that there was no secretary in place, and without a secretary no one could give me the case. Therefore, now I have the most general idea of what they are trying to blame us for. I am in this case with an interested person, that is, almost the defendant. And I hope that in court we will finally see the case file, and it will become clear on what basis this video wants to recognize as extremist. I remember him well, the video appeared almost two years ago. There was a video chronicle associated with attempts by bailiffs from Vladimir to seize the relics of the Monk Efimia and Efrosinya Suzdal from the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church in Suzdal. She did not want to return them to the state, as a dews required it from her. These relics were transferred to the community back in the 88th year. The most unsightly episodes associated with the seizure of these relics were captured in our video: bailiffs, their communication with believers, threats, calls to show violence that sounded from those who arrived, a LDPR picket under the slogans “Return the Holy Rice” - a rather comical spectacle. The author’s thoughts were inserted into this video about how the process of clericalization takes place in Russia, how the state church creates a new image of militant Orthodoxy, how persecuted believers try to defend another Orthodoxy. There were no calls for violence, to the destruction of some group or to infringe on someone’s rights to a religious, social or political attribute in this video.

“But you understand that in this video could the prosecutor's claims cause a claim?”

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Spynomania and witch hunting is now a very popular trend of official propaganda

- Judging by the fact that a linguistic examination, apparently, at the request of the Federal Security Service in the Vladimir Region, takes 44 sheets, they have a lot of complaints. I suppose that the unsuccessful, vulnerable place of this video is a newsreel copied from the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring", where Dr. Goebbels performs with some kind of speech. Apparently, the appearance of this image itself could alert the prosecutor's office. Then this image alternates with the image of Patriarch Kirill, who gives a certain interview in which he calls the Slavs a wild people, almost beasts. He gave this interview in connection with the celebration of the days of Slavic writing and culture and meant, of course, the state of the Slavs, in which they were a thousand years ago, but it must still be said that these phrases cut their hearing. And then the video, proposed by the author of this video, as if combined the image of Goebbels and this is the speech of the Patriarch. As I understand it, any associations with figures of the Third Reich can be perceived as an extremism hint.

- Do you consider this matter to the pressure on you personally?

The calculation is made that this will lead to the cessation of the work of our Credo.ru portal, to my departure from active journalism

-Yes, I am very alarming that the case, it turns out, has existed for about two years, and the initiator of the operational-search measures was the FSB department in the Vladimir region. Here, a certain hint of my bewilderment is given by the article "State Department in the Caste" , which was published some time ago in a number of Vladimir media. This article stated that my activity as a journalist for the protection of the rights of persecuted believers, in particular the rights of the community of the autonomous church in Suzdal, is to fulfill the order of the US State Department, that I could often see me at receptions at the American embassy, and, among other things, the CIA’s professional intelligence officers, which I probably received some tasks that I reported about the persecutions. I never informed no information about the persecution, in addition to the one that was published on our portal. Spynomania and witch hunting is now a very popular trend in official propaganda, so I can assume that this component of my activity-human rights journalism-causes the special services of the suspicion that I do this in the interests of some Western dark forces. What is completely wrong, this is just my professional duty, and I do it in the interests of the objectivity of the information that is published on our portal. I think that if this is the initiative of local security forces, then this, apparently, is an attempt to stop actively coverage of the Suzdal events, this "case of relics."

- What can you personally threaten in connection with this business?

- If the video is recognized as extremist and I will be recognized as involved in its manufacture and distribution, then perhaps I am in the face of persecution for extremist activity. I am not ready to admit this video to extremist at least to some extent, therefore I should not allow such a probability. I did not engage in any extremist activity. But the logic of such processes is such that the video can not just be recognized as extremist, but with the aim of using this video status in the future, somehow against me. If the case receives such a development, I will become a person involved in some kind of criminal prosecution. Then, probably, the calculation is made that this will lead to the cessation of the work of our portal Credo.ru, to my departure from active journalism, ”says Alexander Soldatov.

This is another attack on an independent media that allows himself not only to criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, but also takes a rather independent position in Ukraine

On the site itself, the video recording of "Enterity" is not available for viewing: in the message posted on the portal , it is said that the video is deleted, since its content is the subject of the trial. But on the Internet on some sites you can still see it.

According to the Doctor of Culturology, an independent expert on religion and culture of Elena Volkova , there are two reasons behind this case. The first is related to the identity of Alexander Soldatov:

- “The Case of the video” is an occasion to restore, scare Alexander Soldatov himself, who is known for his critical publications about the Russian Orthodox Church and personally about Patriarch Kirill. And I think that this is an attack on another on an independent media and an Internet portal, which allows himself not only to criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, but also takes a rather independent position in Ukraine.

- In your opinion, is the criminal prosecution of Alexander Soldatov possible?

- Here the most diverse can be the prospects and the most sad. At this stage, it is important that the judge and those people from the departments of the Federal Security Service of FSB see that this case is worried about people, that they are ready to protect the Credo.ru portal. Of course, there is nothing extremist in this video. And this is a comparison with the Third Reich after the article by Andrei Zubov , Viktor Shenderovich, which caused indignation in some circles, has already become a common media place.

The second reason, according to Elena Volkova, who served as an occasion for the appearance of a "case of a video," is a repressive attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to alternative churches that are not subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church was separated from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990, and in 2002 processes began against this church, says Elena Volkova:

The process is absolutely Kafkian. Relics are in no way defined in Russian legislation

- First, in 2002, the case was instituted against the head of this church - now the late Valentin Rusansov. There were even accusations of pedophilia and, according to Soviet patterns, other most dirty accusations. Then they began to start cases of the seizure of temples. After all, we have many alternative churches, but very few of them have a prayer house, a church. And these temples had more than a dozen temples in Suzdal. And they began to be taken away. They were kicked out of almost all the temples and, leaving one of them, they carried with them the relics of the Suzdal Euphia and Euphrosyne. The "case of relics" began: having taken away the temples, they began to take relics. And this absurd business has been stretching for several years. There were court decisions, both in favor of the seizure of relics and against this. As a result, nevertheless, the relics were decided to seize, and bailiffs came to the prayer house. The process is absolutely Kafkian. The relics are in no way defined in Russian legislation. We do not have an “article about the relics” that transmit dust, remains. The plot is completely absurd, but sad: many people really suffer, ”says Elena Volkova.

Now the relics of the saints Efimia and the Euphrosynia of the Suzdal are still under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. According to Alexander Soldatov, despite the current court decisions, the attacks of the bailiffs ceased. Soldatov does not exclude that, perhaps, the emergence of the case in his regard “the interest” of the investigating authorities in the “case of relics” was “dulled”.