The arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature has been extended

On December 25, 2015, the house arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, Natalia Sharina, was extended for a month. Vladimir Putin commented on the case.

On December 25, 2015, the Presnensky Court of Moscow extended the house arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, Natalia Sharina, until January 28, 2016. In requesting an extension of the preventive measure, the investigation cited the need to complete investigative measures, in particular, to complete the assigned examinations. On December 28, 2015, Sharina's defense appealed the extension of the arrest.

The situation with the persecution of Sharina was commented on by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting of the Council on Culture and Art. Answering a question from literary critic Alexander Arkhangelsky, he stated that he did not know what was being discussed, but promised to look into the circumstances of the case and pointed out the need to preserve the library.

The case against Sharina was opened in late October 2015 under paragraph "b" of Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement of ethnic hatred or enmity using official position). The reason for the prosecution was that as a result of a search conducted at the request of a local municipal deputy, a banned book by Ukrainian nationalist Dmytro Korchinsky, "War in NATO" (paragraph 2089 of the Federal List of Extremist Materials), was discovered in the library. Sharina herself was detained on October 28, and a search was also conducted at her home, as well as at the deputy chairman of the public organization "Ukrainians of Moscow" Valeriy Semenenko. On October 30, Sharina was placed under house arrest, Semenenko is a witness in the case. Sharina stated that she has reason to believe that a stack of books was planted during the search, especially since the banned book by Korchinsky was removed from the collections back in 2011. On December 14, searches were conducted at the homes of two more library employees.

This is not the first attempt by Russian authorities to bring Sharina to justice: in 2011, a case was also opened against her under Article 282 of the Criminal Code, but it was soon dropped due to lack of evidence of a crime.

In our opinion, the prosecution of Sharina is unlawful for several reasons. The law on combating extremism contradicts the law on librarianship, since in accordance with the latter, libraries are required to store all incoming materials in their collection. The need to eliminate this contradiction has been long overdue, but instead of taking appropriate legislative measures, the authorities punish librarians for distributing prohibited literature or storing it for the purpose of distribution under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, if they do not check the titles of books from their collections and new acquisitions with the constantly updated Federal List of Extremist Materials and do not confiscate prohibited materials. In this case, not even an administrative, but a criminal case has been initiated. Criminal prosecution under Article 282 of the Criminal Code is carried out when it comes to a propaganda act - the deliberate distribution of materials, although not prohibited by the court, but of dangerous content. However, librarians do not engage in propaganda; they store and issue books, and, naturally, no law requires them to become familiar with the content of literature.

The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Natalia Sharina as a political prisoner and demanded her immediate release and the closure of the criminal case against her. On January 27, 2016, Sharina's arrest was extended until April 28. On February 9, 2016, the Moscow City Court recognized the extension of the arrest as lawful. A similar decision was made by the Moscow City Court on March 22, 2016. On April 26, 2016, Sharina's arrest was extended until July 29, and on May 31, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision to extend the arrest. On July 27, the term of house arrest was extended until August 29. On August 29, 2016, Sharina's house arrest was again extended, this time until October 28.

Sources

• Ponomarev A. The court extended the house arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature // RAPSI. 2015. December 25.
• Putin promised to look into the case of the Ukrainian literature library // Interfax. 2015. December 25.
• The defense of the director of the library of Ukrainian literature appealed the extension of house arrest // TASS. 2015. December 28.
• House arrest extended for Director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature Natalia Sharina // Mediazona. 2016. January 27.
• The court recognized the extension of the arrest of the head of the Library of Ukrainian Literature as legal // RAPSI. 2016. February 9.
• The court extended the arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature until July 29 // Vedomosti. 2016. July 26.
• The arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature was extended until August 29 // RIA Novosti. 2016. July 27.
• Presnensky Court of Moscow extended the house arrest of the director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature until October 28 // Ekho Moskvy. 2016. August 29.