Case over caricatures of Christ dropped in Sochi

The magistrate's court discontinued the criminal case of insulting the feelings of believers against Viktor Nochevnov.

On January 18, 2018, the Magistrate Court of Judicial District No. 102 of the Central District of Sochi dismissed the criminal case against Viktor Nochevnov, previously convicted under Part 1 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code (insulting the feelings of believers) due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing to justice.

Let us recall that on August 2, 2017, the magistrate of court district No. 101 of the Central District of Sochi sentenced Nochevnov to a fine of 50 thousand rubles. The reason for the persecution was the republication by Nochevnov under the pseudonym “Vitek Vlasov” on the social network “VKontakte” of a series of cartoon images of Christ, in which he is depicted: glued to the cross; in the form of a weightlifter against the background of the Olympic rings; exercising in the gym on the apparatus; with a guitar; dancing in the stadium; hanging in a loincloth on the horizontal bar in the company of two people in tracksuits with the caption “Jesus, good p******, let’s do 15 more”; in Nazi uniform with the signature “Christ in the SS is truly in the SS”; hanging on a cross carried by other people, with the caption "Let's go!" On October 27, 2017, the Central District Court of Sochi partially satisfied Nochevnov’s appeal: the verdict of the magistrate court was overturned , the case was sent for a new trial to the magistrate court of section No. 102 of the Central District of Sochi.

We opposed the sentence that was passed on Nochevnov (for more information about the proceedings in the magistrate’s court, see here ). The fact that the proceedings in such cases go far beyond the legal framework, from our point of view, confirms that the definition of “insulting the feelings of believers”, which has no legal meaning, should be removed from the Criminal Code.

Let us also note that the Sochi courts have dealt with many scandalous “religious” cases, including the banning of a novel by Marcus Lehmann and an article by Zoe Kopelman, administrative cases against a follower of the Chinese spiritual practice Falun Gong, a Kabbalah teacher and a Protestantpastor , and the deportation of the city’s chief rabbi.

Sources

• In Sochi, the court dismissed the case for reposting cartoons of Jesus Christ on VKontakte // International human rights group "Agora". 2018. January 18.