The performance as evidence

Vladimir Putin denies that a custom -made prosecution is underway against director Kirill Serebrennikov, not a criminal investigation. The president said this at a meeting of the Council on Culture and Art, Interfax reports .

"As for Serebrennikov, you know well that if it were a persecution, not an investigation, his performance would not be staged on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. And this happened," Putin said, responding to a member of the Council, literary criticism of Alexander Arkhangelsky. At the same time, the president noted that this topic is "very sensitive."

At the meeting, Arkhangelsky said that cultural figures are protesting the transformation of criminal cases into an intimidation action. In particular, Arkhangelski expressed concern in connection with criminal prosecution not only against Serebrennikov, but also other defendants in the case of the Seventh Studio, historian Yuri Dmitriev and the defendants of some criminal cases.

“The best laws will be skidding if the supervisory authorities, as well as the investigation and the court will proceed from repressive logic. They often say why the investigation is possible against officials, but against cultural figures, no. But they talk about something else - that you can’t frighten and suppress - neither officials, nor ordinary citizens. We need to investigate, and not pursue,” Arkhangelsky said.

Film director Alexei German also drew Putin's attention to problems in connection with the arrest of Serebrennikov’s accounts, which is why he cannot assist his elderly parents. “We are often talking about Kirill Serebrennikov today, about what is connected with his business. I just want to say very important information. I ask for mercy. Kirill Serebrennikov has very elderly parents - his father 84 years old, mother Alzheimer's disease,” German said at a meeting of the Council.

On September 5, Putin at a press conference in China stated that only the court could determine the guilt of Serebrennikov . “There are no questions to Serebrennikov by the authorities: compliance with the law in the use of budget money,” the president said. “Despite the fact that he is under house arrest - this does not mean that he is to blame for something. He is to blame or not, only the court can determine.”

Serebrennikov’s work can be treated differently, Putin noted, but “if the authorities finances, it means that it is at least neutral and allows the artist to work, work.”

Serebrennikov is accused of the case of the Seventh Studio. Under part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale), the director threatens up to 10 years in the colony. On August 22, Serebrennikov was detained in St. Petersburg. The next day, the judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow Elena Lenskaya sent him under house arrest . On October 11, the Basmanny District Court arrested the property and bank accounts of Serebrennikov .

On December 9, the Bolshoi Theater took place the premiere of the Nureyev ballet, set by Serebrennikov. At the same time, the investigator of the TFR did not allow the director to visit rehearsals . The co -authors of the play - choreographer Yuri Posokhov and composer Ilya Demutsky - after the premiere entered the stage in T -shirts with a portrait of Serebrennikov and the inscription "Freedom to the director".