The court approved the arrest of comedian Mirzalizadeh

Idrak Mirzalizade arrested under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for a statement about Russians made during a speech criticizing xenophobia.

On August 11, 2021, the Moscow City Court in the appellate instance approved the administrative arrest imposed on August 9 on stand-up comedian Idrak Mirzalizade under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (inciting national hatred).

The case against Mirzalizade was initiated on July 30, 2021 by the prosecutor's office of the Central Administrative District of Moscow. The reason was his statements in the release of the show "Acceleration" on YouTube, which was released on March 1, 2021. In a conversation with other comedians, Mirzalizade spoke about the difficulties that "non-Slavs" face when looking for housing. At the same time, he told how with a friend, a native of the Caucasus, he threw away a dirty mattress, which was witnessed by a housemate who showed a contemptuous attitude towards them. Mirzalizade noted that Russian tenants who used it had contaminated the mattress, and also expressed the opinion that a housemate, also an ethnic Russian, had no moral right to deliberately treat him and his friend negatively.

A few months later, the Tsargrad TV channel and the founder of the Male State, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, drew attention to the video. TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov called Mirzalizade a scoundrel and wondered why he had not yet been convicted under the article on inciting hatred. The comedian faced bullying and was the victim of an assault .

According to a press release from the prosecutor's office, Mirzalizade's speech revealed "linguistic and psychological signs of humiliation of a group of people identified by nationality, as well as propaganda of its inferiority."

It was noted that the prosecutor's office did not check the full release of the show "Acceleration", but only an excerpt from the speech published on social networks. A video with the same name as that appears in the protocol is found, for example, in the ultra-right White Morning group on VKontakte.

“I don’t admit guilt, but I apologize and repent before the people who saw me, but misinterpreted me. this is the main weapon against any negative phenomenon, because no one likes to be ridiculed. But I repent to those who saw passages taken out of context, as it sounded inappropriate for them. I understand their feelings, "Mirzalizade himself said in court .

We believe that there were no sufficient grounds for Mirzalizade's arrest. His speech, albeit somewhat provocative, was devoted to criticism of the xenophobia faced by people from the Caucasus, and in his argument, the comedian directly emphasized the negative attitude towards nationalism.

Sources

• The court recognized the arrest of comedian Mirzalizade in the case of incitement of hatred lawful // RIA News. 2021. 11 August.