Russia’s elected communist official Mikhail Abdulkin, who was sentenced in Russia to a fine for listening to a speech by President Vladimir Putin, spaghetti hung from his ears, should be tried again this month on appeal.
• Also read: The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office begins reviewing a video clip of the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier
• Also read: Circulation of a video of a beheaded Ukrainian prisoner and the denunciation of Russian “monsters”.
The Russian phrase “to hang noodles on the ears” means “to tell the authorities.” However, the deputy posted a video on February 21 in which he watched and listened to Putin’s speech while listening by ear.
The deputy of the Samara (Volga) Region Council, who was sentenced in March to a fine of 150,000 rubles (1,600 euros) for “defaming the reputation” of the army and the authorities, announced Wednesday on social media that his appeal would be considered on April 27. .
He denounced his conviction as “illegal and (with) political motives”.
The person chosen had himself posted the video for which he was judged. He nods very seriously, noodles hanging from his ears, when Mr. Putin invokes the “centuries of colonialism, diktats and hegemony” of NATO and the United States, rhetoric he uses particularly regularly to justify his attack on Ukraine.
The deputy posted his video on YouTube, Facebook and VKontakte, with the caption: “I totally support, totally agree. Great speech.”
The video angered the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, whose deputy Alexander Khinstein called on the docile RCP to “put the elected rebel in its place”. But fellow communists defended their comrade.
“Instead of examining the files of murderers, swindlers and those who actually steal the national heritage, they (the judges) decided to punish the ruble a man who has a different view from that of the ruling regime,” State Duma deputy (lower house of the Russian parliament), communist Denis Parfyonov, in an interview with the channel Youtube Svobodnaya Pressa.
Mr. Abdulkin capped off his VKontakte profile with a quote from writer Bernard Shaw: “My way of joking is telling the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.”
The law on the basis of which he was convicted is punishable by a fine the fact of defaming the Russian authorities or the army, a provision introduced shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. In case of recidivism, he risks imprisonment.
Many dissidents and ordinary citizens have already served long prison sentences for criticizing the attack on Ukraine.
