Not that finger

The first criminal case was opened in connection with the confrontation in the square in Yekaterinburg. Suspect - a supporter of the construction of the temple

The Investigative Committee opened the first criminal case against a participant in protests in Yekaterinburg. 31-year-old Stanislav Melnichenko is suspected of “insulting a representative of power”-Art. 319 of the Criminal Code. He faces up to a year of correctional labor.

According to investigators, on May 14, when in the center of Yekaterinburg the second day there were clashes of the defenders of the square with the guards of the “Russian Copper Company” (RMK - a sponsor of the construction of the temple in the square) and security officers, Melnichenko shook the police officer Yevgeny Kryukov. And even showed him the middle finger.

Melnichenko rejects Melnichenko.

-Firstly, the representative of the authorities in this case was not dressed in the form of a representative of the authorities. It was wearing ordinary clothes: a sports jacket, pants and a backpack. As Melnichenko could determine that he was a policeman in front of him, it is incomprehensible, ”says lawyer Stanislav Melnichenko Alexei Bushmakov. -Secondly, the words said by Stanislav were addressed not to the police Kryukov, but to the people who stood behind the fence [installed in the square]. And there, in addition to representatives of the authorities, that is, police officers and the Russian Guard, stood the guards of the RMK, churchmen, and journalists.

According to Alexei Bushmakov, the investigation has not yet explained exactly what words Melnichenko could insult Evgeny Kryukov.

- The specific phrases that are charged with my client, the investigation conceals, referring to the fact that they allegedly cannot write obscene words in procedural documents. At the same time, the investigation has these phrases, and they have now appointed a linguistic examination on these phrases. And we, due to the lack of these phrases, are deprived of the opportunity to conduct an independent examination.

In the regional Investigative Committee and the police, from comments on the criminal case against Melnichenko, they are still refraining.

An interesting fact: during interrogation, Stanislav Melnichenko said that he was not a defender of the square at the drama theater, but on the contrary, a supporter of the construction of the church of St. Ekaterina.

Supporters of the construction of the temple really came to the square in the early days of the confrontation: as a rule, a rather tough bickering took place between them and the defenders of the square.

Earlier, the Ural media reported that the police are looking for other clashes in Yekaterinburg. Moreover, it was mainly said about the supporters of the temple: for example, the surname of the professional fighter Igor Chernoskutov was mentioned - he participated in the dispersal of the very first protest campaign on March 13.

In relation to the defenders of the square, the cases are still being brought up administrative. So, on April 3, the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced the activist Anna Baltin to a fine of 20,000 rubles: she was considered the “organizer of protests” because of a post on social networks with an appeal to “go for a walk” in the square. The post of Baltina on Facebook scored 15 "likes". The woman herself in court noted that this is “not serious” for the organizer.

In total, more than 100 people were detained during protests in Yekaterinburg. They were sentenced to fines, public work and administrative arrests of up to 15 days.