A criminal case was opened against Russian musician Prokhor Protasov due to anti-war posts

On October 5, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against the Russian composer and musician Prokhor Protasov. He spoke about this in an interview with Radio Liberty.

reported It is unclear what crime the musician is charged with. Presumably, the reason for the criminal case was the man’s anti-war statements - the case was opened following a denunciation by the composer’s colleagues. Security forces searched his home, and later put Protasov on the wanted list - the man himself is not currently in Russia.

His relatives in Kirov were given subpoenas for questioning - according to the document, they have the status of witnesses in the case. “I think they jumped on me because I’m a very convenient candidate for the ‘fake’ case. Although I didn’t do anything like that: I just wrote about what I thought on VKontakte, reposted Meduza, and reposted Radio Liberty, among other things. That's all, actually. But I went to study on a grant in the USA, studied at Bard College, now an “undesirable organization.” And in August of this year they came to my home in Russia with a search. They didn’t take anything, however, they invited my relatives for interrogation, and during the interrogation they were actively interested in what funds I used to travel to the USA. And the funds were grants from the State Department,” Protasov told reporters.

Also, the musician’s page on VKontakte was blocked at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

A criminal case was opened against Prokhor Protasov under the article of disseminating “fakes” about the Russian army based on political hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). He himself told OVD-Info about this. The reason was, in particular, posts on VKontakte about events in and a missile attack on a shopping center in Kremenchug.

October 14 10:35 Buche - Prokhor Protasov is a musician, composer, author of the anthem of the city of Kirov, he worked as a conductor for many years. From 2018 to 2020, having received a prestigious award, he studied for a master's degree at Bard College in the USA, during the pandemic from 2020 to 2021 he lived in Russia again, then entered doctoral studies under the Fulbright program in Canada, where he is now. - Attorney General's Office on June 21, 2021 by an “undesirable organization” “Bard College”, registered in the United States of America. This is a private university that has collaborated with St. Petersburg State University since 1997. On the basis of Russian and foreign universities, the Faculty of Liberal Sciences and Arts was created, headed by the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber, Alexey Kudrin. In 2021, it was announced that the department will become an independent institution with a dual degree: the University of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Bard College.

admitted - Since February 24 - the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine - residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 300 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our.

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