The case of setting fire to the door of the FSB building against the artist Pyotr Pavlensky was reclassified to the more serious article “Destruction of cultural heritage objects.” Previously, the artist was accused of vandalism

Consideration of the petition for the arrest of artist Pyotr Pavlensky, November 2015 (Photo: Mikhail Japaridze/TASS)

Investigative authorities have reclassified the criminal case against the artist Pyotr Pavlensky. His lawyer Dmitry Dinze told Interfax about this.

According to him, Pavlensky announced the reclassification of the case to Article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (destruction of cultural heritage objects) from Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (vandalism) via video link at the court hearing. The artist noted that the retraining occurred recently.

Unlike Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, under Article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation the accused can receive a longer term of imprisonment - up to six years. The maximum punishment under the article “Vandalism” provides for three years in prison.

The action, during which the artist set fire to the door of the FSB building on Lubyanka, took place in November 2015. Immediately after the action, Pavlensky was sent to the Meshchansky district police station on suspicion of committing petty hooliganism. Then his lawyer Olga Chavdar noted that the interrogation of the artist lasted several hours. According to her, law enforcement officers were trying to get an answer to a single question: did he want someone to die? The answer to this was negative.

The door of the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka was closed with metal sheets after the action of Pyotr Pavlensky. Photo: November 2015 (Photo: Mikhail Japaridze/TASS)

Later, a criminal case was opened against Pavlensky, and by decision of the Tagansky court he was placed under arrest. As Interfax reports , by decision of the Moscow City Court, the artist will remain in custody until at least April 5. The artist himself asked to investigate the arson of the door of the FSB building as terrorism .

As Chavdar explained to Novaya Gazeta, the action was called “Threat. The burning doors of Lubyanka." “Perhaps Pavlensky had in mind the sharp increase in criminal cases of terrorism against Russians. That any of us can be declared a terrorist,” the lawyer said. At the trial, Pavlensky, explaining the purpose of the action, said that he condemned the criminal cases of so-called terrorists fabricated by the FSB. “People set fire to ballot boxes, and they were accused of terrorism,” the artist noted.

Pavlensky became widely known thanks to his political actions. In the summer of 2012, he held the “Seam” campaign: the artist sewed his mouth shut and went to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg with a poster in support of the members of the group Pussy Riot.

In May 2013, the naked artist lay in a “cocoon” of barbed wire near the entrance to the building of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg. The action was called “Carcass”. In November of the same year, the artist nailed his genitals to the paving stones on Red Square next to the Mausoleum. He timed this action - “Fixation” - to coincide with Police Day.

A year later, the actionist, climbing the fence of the Serbsky Institute, cut off his right earlobe with a knife. With this action, Pavlensky protested against the use of psychiatry for political purposes.

Pavlensky’s arson of the FSB door was considered “destruction of cultural heritage”