"This is not Roldugin to you!"

Cellist Semyon Lashkin was fined 10 thousand rubles for a street performance

On June 28, the Tver Court of Moscow fined the cellist and vocalist of the Radio Kamerger group Semyon Lashkin for 10 thousand rubles, finding him guilty of the organization of "mass simultaneous stay of citizens in public places." The musician was detained on the evening of June 20 on Nikolskaya Street in Moscow, after he played several songs with his friends. The cello was seized from him as an “subject of administrative violation” and returned only on the eve of the hearing. According to police officers, Lashkin from his improvised concert interfered with the movement of passers -by and made it difficult for them to “social purposes”. The musician and his protection with such an interpretation of events do not agree.

"This is not Roldugin to you!" - In these words, the audience, who came on Tuesday morning in the Tver court of Moscow, the decision of the judge Alesi Orekhova met on Tuesday. She, having spent less than 10 minutes in the deliberative room, came to the conclusion that the musician Semyon Lashkin committed an administrative offense due to the fact that he played cello on the street on Monday evening. The judge was not interested in the opinion of the police who detained the musician: the defense of their interrogation was rejected, nor the opinion of the witnesses who saw Semyon Lashkin on the evening of June 20. Of the five defenders who came to the court, the judge asked lawyer Maria Sernovets to choose one person whose testimony the court was ready to hear. The participants in the process interrogated the concert manager of the Radio Kamerger group - Olga Openok, who refuted the position of law enforcement agencies that the performance of the musicians made it difficult to the movement of passers -by or interfered.

They awarded a fine, and I believe that the matter is not in money, but simply in the absurdity of the situation itself

Semyon Lashkin himself explained to the court that at the moment when the police drove up to him, he had already completed the performance and removed the tool. There was no "crowd of ten people" around him, as stated in a police report. All the time on Nikolskaya Street, the musician was sitting on a bench and could not interfere with passers -by. The defense of Semyon Lashkin also drew the attention of the court to the fact that there was no “social buildings” on Nikolskaya Street, with the exception of the Russian Post, which no longer works at 9 pm, so the accusation that the musician’s performance prevented people from getting into the mail, called the defense as far -fetched. In addition, according to the defense, the constitutional rights of the musician were violated - to freedom of thought and words and to freedom of creativity.

Speech by Semyon Lashkin on Nikolskaya Street in Moscow, June 20, 2016:

Semyon Lashkin calls this matter absurd and admits that, given the volume of evidence of the defense, he hoped for another court decision:

-There were so many arguments from a lawyer, from me, from a witness, there were a lot of people, a lot of the press, and I thought it would somehow affect. Although I was warned that, most likely, the verdict would be accusations, they would write out a fine. But according to the way the process went through, I thought it would affect. Those facts that we cited are the photographs that we asked to attach, the video that was shot on this day - unfortunately, this did not help. They awarded a fine, and I believe that the matter is not in money, but simply in the absurdity of the situation itself. I can’t say that we very often played on the street recently, and we do not have such a goal in principle - to play often on the streets, and I do not think that we will still play there. I definitely do not want to. There is an official permission to play Gorky Park, it can be there. Now any photograph on Instagram or anywhere else, when you report that “hello here,” says as if we are inviting everyone there and collecting, and we are already starting some kind of unlawful movements, and so on. You can interpret almost any action as a violation, ”explains Semyon Lashkin.

According to lawyer Maria Sernovets , the musician did not have an offense in the actions of the musician. With the same success, you can finish, for example, a guide group or company that has left the restaurant, the lawyer believes:

Now I just want to warn the comrades of guides that they are apparently following the musicians and artists

- For analogy, let's give an example that my colleagues and I discussed. This is a tour that is held in the old, central district of Moscow. The guide gathering the group deliberately, the group can include from 50 or more people, leads it along the same Nikolskaya Street ... You yourself understand that such a mass of people who stop with open mouths in front of certain attractions of Moscow just creates the impossibility of passage and limits access to social objects. That is, now I just want to warn the comrades of guides that they are apparently following the musicians and artists. Because, if you look at the interpretation of this norm from the point of view of the current law enforcement, then this is by all points an administrative offense. The guide collects in advance, takes money for this, the group is massive, it blocks the passage of pedestrians and access to social infrastructure facilities. I think that, probably, if the company, which ruined in one of the evening restaurants in Moscow, will pass along the street and will also stop somewhere to talk, this is now administratively punishable if you follow the logic of today's court decision.

Lawyer Maria Sernovets added that she intends to appeal the decision of the Tver court in the Moscow City Court, and then in the constitutional. The deputy of the State Duma, who came to the meeting, Dmitry Gudkov called what was happening "police state":