The case of Alexander Byvshev was sent to court

The prosecutor's office approved the indictment in the case of the poet from Krom.

On December 4, 2017, in the prosecutor's office of the Kromsky district of the Oryol region, local poet Alexander Byvshev, accused under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting national hatred) for the publication of the poem "For the Independence of Ukraine", handed a copy of the indictment. The case has been sent to court.

Byvshev published the poem "For the Independence of Ukraine" 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 . On October 30, Byvshev was charged , and on November 2, he was notified of the end of the investigation in the case.

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 "For the Independence of Ukraine" does contain statements that can be interpreted as humiliating for Russians, however, we believe that the poem has a political, not xenophobic, character, and in addition, humiliation of dignity should be excluded from the composition of the criminal articles 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 .

Sources

• Inc. inf.