Leader of the "Christian State" Alexander Kalinin arrested

The Tagansky Court of Moscow arrested the leader of the organization "Christian State - Holy Rus'" Alexander Kalinin.

“The court granted the request of the investigation and chose a measure of restraint in respect of Kalinin in the form of detention until November 22,” the press service of the court told TASS.

Kalinin pleaded not guilty, reports " Interfax " with reference to the press secretary of the Tagansky court Yulia Sukhinina.

“He does not dispute sending letters [to cinemas]. He says that he sent them on religious grounds, but he does not agree with the presence of guilt, ”said the representative of the court.

• earlier on September 23 The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Irina Volk, announced that Kalinin became a defendant in a criminal case related to forcing film distributors to refuse to show the film "Matilda" directed by Alexei Uchitel. The case was initiated under Article 179 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (coercion to complete a transaction or refuse to complete it), she explained.
• At the beginning of 2017, the Christian State - Holy Russia, headed by Alexander Kalinin, sent letters to cinemas demanding that Matilda be canceled, threatening that "cinemas would start burning." In an interview with Meduza, Kalinin also linked mass evacuations due to false bomb reports in various Russian cities to the fight against the screening of Matilda.
• On September 20, it became known that Kalinin was interrogated in the framework of the case of arson of cars at the office of lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin, who represents the interests of director Alexei Uchitel.
• After the interrogation, as reported, the leader of the "Christian state" took a written undertaking not to leave and released him. However, shortly after that, according to Interfax sources in law enforcement agencies, he was detained again.
• Article 179 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for a maximum penalty of imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 300,000 rubles. The same act, but committed by an organized group, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.