Trial of a schoolteacher and poet Alexander Byvshev continues in Oryol. He is accused of "inciting hatred or enmity to the Russian" (Criminal Rule 282) for the poem "To Ukrainian patriots", written in 2014, in which he suggested the Ukrainians to "respond in Bandera way" to "moskalskaya gang" in the Crimea.
At the last meeting, held on June 3, a judge Margarita Gridina set the meaning of a word "moskal". According to the lawyer of Byvshev Vladimir Suchkov, the examination of the Kiev Institute of Linguistics found that "moskal" in this poem does not imply the Russian people as a whole, but only the Russian military. However, the judge has not admitted the provided expertise, and then rejected a defense motion to hold a new one, which Suchkov proposed to held by the experts of the Moscow State University. The Court considered report of an expert Tatiana Vlasova of the Oryol State University exhaustive.
"Vlasova confused when I asked her questions. She said she didn’t investigate the essence of the poem, the author's intention, and studied the evaluation. But this is a criminal trial, so to recognize Byvshev guilty we have to prove his intent. But, of course, there is no intent", Suchkov says. In his opinion, the court was not interested in obtaining an objective assessment, adjusted to a conviction, "cuts off" almost all defense motions, and the process is purely political in nature, "the poem itself is not worth such effort, but there is a line about "Putin's chekists".
Suchkov considers questioning of witnesses at previous meetings one of the proofs of politicization of the process. "All of them said something like this: I have not read the poem of Byvshev, but the investigator read it to me, and then explained the meaning"
The next hearing on the case of the teacher Byvshev in the district court of Kromy, Oryol region, is planned on June 24. If convicted he could face both a fine and community service, and a real prison term — up to four years.
Let us note that as long as there is a process, the teacher is actually deprived of the means of livelihood, he was suspended from teaching. The situation is aggravated by the fact that he has two elderly parents in care. A fund is being raised to support Byvshev’s family.
Sofia Krapotkina, «7x7»
