Former Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev: The “7 Studios” case is not only dishonest accounting

Perhaps, for the first time in the new Russia, our comrade, who has become the pride of world culture, is subjected to a three-year prosecution, for whose honesty hundreds of figures of Russian art have vouched

Appeal to the court on the eve of the announcement of the verdict in the Seventh Studio case.

With a heavy feeling I await the verdict of the court on June 26. An unjust decision will certainly cast a shadow on the formation and maturity of the rule of law and will be a shock to our culture and the entire civil society. The Ministry of Culture can certainly withdraw its claim even before the trial, based on the findings of the SECOND EXAMINATION. At the same time, a reservation can be made that if the court (including the results of the appeal and cassation) nevertheless admits guilt, the Ministry of Culture will return to the formation of its claim. This is exactly what the Ministry of Culture did in 2010, when Arakcheev, the director of the St. Petersburg Museum of Atheism, was tried because of the uncleanliness of an accountant. Despite the fact that the Ministry and me as a leader were "pressed" with a lawsuit, we refused to do this BEFORE THE COURT and defended Arakcheev. By the way, the court was not shocked by the absence of the claim of the Ministry and took it without comment. His guilt, by the way, has not been proven. The case of "7 Studios" is not only unclean accounting. No one had previously thought of touching the great M. Ulyanov, when the director of his theater turned out to be a "big trickster." So it was with those financial and technical services that let down outstanding innovators who trusted them, brilliant scientists, engineers, leaders of science and culture. Perhaps for the first time in the new Russia, our comrade, who has become the pride of world culture, has been subjected to a three-year legal prosecution, for whose honesty hundreds of figures of Russian art have vouched. Moreover, this was done not for the sake of "corporate solidarity", but for the sake of the triumph of decency and hope for justice. The law is one for all - this is true, and everyone is equal before it. But the trial, too, should not be biased and not turn into persecution of the authors, in fact, because they are the first to remarkably mark a new major direction in the development of contemporary art today. And their amazing intellectual contribution will enrich the theatrical business in many countries. There is hope that the crimes of embezzlers and "cashers", who really need to be punished, will not give the "Studio 7 Case" the nature of the persecution of innocent cultural figures and will not evoke associations with the well-known sad processes in our country and abroad.

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