At a hearing in the Ostankino District Court of Moscow, Alexander Demchuk, a partner of the Twitch streamer YokoBovich (Anna Bazhutova), who was being prosecuted in an “anti-war case,” said that he testified to the investigator under torture. about this SOTAvision writes with reference to a correspondent from the courtroom.
Bazhutova is charged with an article about military “fakes” (clause “d”, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the prosecution of the blogger was a stream held in April 2022, in which she read out the stories of the residents of Bucha, wrote on a piece of cardboard that 300 people in Bucha were killed by Russian soldiers, uttered the phrase “death to the Russian occupiers,” and in addition, called for “rekilling” the “Russian people” who are guilty of this. Since August 2023, Bazhutova has been in pre-trial detention center.
During interrogation in the case as a witness, Demchuk stated that he supported the war in Ukraine and condemned the actions of his partner. However, at the court hearing, he said that he gave this testimony under torture. Demchuk's interrogation lasted about 9 hours, it was carried out by 6-8 people. During part of the interrogation, the man lay on the floor and did not know where he was. He was threatened with criminal charges and physical violence. The interrogation protocol of Demchuk, according to him, was rewritten six times.
The court recognized this as an unacceptable method of investigation and postponed the hearing.
- Since February 24, 2022—the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been holding anti-war protests every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 800 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
- Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the authorities responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under this article is 15 years in prison.