Alexander Byvshev was charged

A poet from Krom is accused of inciting hatred towards Russians.

On October 30, 2017, Alexander Byvshev, a resident of the village of Kromy, Oryol region, was charged under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement of national hatred) for the publication of the poem "For the Independence of Ukraine".

Byvshev published this poem on his page on the social network "VKontakte" on February 22, 2015. On September 30, 2016, the Kromskoy Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Orel Region opened a criminal case, on January 17, 2017, Byvshev was searched , and on October 20 he became a suspect .

Studies by the Voronezh Regional Forensic Center and the Oryol Forensic Laboratory of the Ministry of Justice, conducted as part of the investigation, showed that the text of the poem contains signs of inciting hatred and enmity, humiliating the dignity of a group of people united on the basis of nationality (Russians). In this regard, Byvshev was accused of inciting hatred towards Russians on the part of ethnic Ukrainians.

From our point of view, the poem contains statements that can be interpreted as humiliating for Russians, however, we believe that the poem is political, not xenophobic, and in addition, humiliation should be excluded from the criminal article as an act of minor gravity.

In 2015, Byvshev was sentenced by the Kromsky District Court of the Orel Region for the publication of the poem "Ukrainian Patriots" under the same part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code to 300 hours of compulsory work with a ban on the profession (teaching at school) for two years and confiscation of a laptop. On August 26, 2015, the sentence was confirmed by the Oryol Regional Court and later entered into force. The complaint against this verdict was accepted for consideration by the ECtHR and communicated .

On November 2, Byvshev was notified of the end of the investigation into his case.

Sources

• Based on social media.