Three times and enough? Nope. Behind bars after two misdemeanors. The singer of the Russian punk rock band Pornofilmy would like to be sent to prison in Moscow because he was repeatedly fined for “discrediting the army”.
Vladimir Kotljarov is the singer of the Russian punk rock band Pornofilmy. Photo: Instangram/Pornofilmy
The Moscow court decided on the first financial sanction three months ago and imposed another one a few days ago. Vladimir Kotljarov was ordered to pay 50,000 rubles in both cases. The two sanctions add up to 1060 euros. “Whoever collects two such fines within one year is at risk of starting criminal proceedings,” explained the Meduza server. According to the filing of an indictment, which may ultimately mean imprisonment. “He faces a prison sentence of up to five years,” TASS reported. .
However, Kotljarov will certainly not pay a single ruble, he does not even have to fear loss of freedom, because he no longer lives in Russia. He emigrated right after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army in February 2022. He strongly condemned the invasion of the army, he got the feeling that he no longer had anything to look for in his homeland. In the spring of 2022, the band played several concerts to donate the proceeds to the suffering civilians in Ukraine.
In June of this year, Kotljarov was fined for what he said in August of last year. The background was related to a belated revenge in which MP Andrej Aľšonskich had a hand. Previously, a member of the Duma for the Communists and now for the ruling United Russia party, in the spring of 2024, he submitted an initiative to the prosecutor’s office to verify Kotljarov’s statements. “Even after leaving the country, they cannot calm down. They bark like pugs. They resort to insults. We can leave many things unnoticed, but we will not allow anyone to discredit our army,” RIA Novosti quoted the deputy as saying. Aľsonskich claimed that he acted at the instigation of angry voters.
The band’s frontman was threatened with a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. The judge decided to punish him with the highest possible amount. He proceeded in the same way a few days ago. According to the court, Kotljarov was guilty last year of making a critical appearance in front of the cameras of the Dožď TV station (he cannot broadcast from Russia, it was banned in March 2022, so he uses social networks such as YouTube). The case looked tragicomic. Independent Russian media pointed out that Kotljarov’s offense was already subject to a statute of limitations, but he was still fined…
By the way, the singer was later included in the list of so-called foreign agents by the Russian authorities after his emigration. Mozipans in Moscow must have him in their teeth not only because of his criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, but also because, for example, the band Pornofilmy performed at a concert dedicated to the memory of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison in February of this year. The music event took place three months ago in Berlin.
And what exactly did they fine Kotljarov for in the second case? For his words in the band’s video on the Telegram social network: “It seems to me that the army of the Russian Federation has been discredited by the army of the Russian Federation itself. Occupation of foreign territories, looting of foreign homes, torture, rape, kidnapping of Ukrainian children, massacres – all this is done every day by the army of the Russian Federation, which is discredited every day.”
Resistance to the army is in the 36-year-old Kotljarov’s blood, so to speak. In his youth, he decided to do his best to avoid compulsory military service. “I was internally too free to join the Russian army, to dig trenches for free, unload trucks, build something for some military moron and basically just waste two years of my life,” he clarified in an interview with Radio Sloboda.
He continued that he refused to become a slave to the system. He considered it right to use those two years for anything else that he considers meaningful. He was even for some time in the psychiatric ward under observation to be recognized as unfit for military service. He offered a recipe for young Russians who think like him to avoid wearing a military uniform: “The scheme is quite banal. You pretend to be a bit crazy, go see a psychiatrist. You must have some legend that you cling to, and you imitate some symptoms over and over again.” And what next? “Then they offer you an examination at a psychiatric clinic, and there you have to be convincing. they won’t accept.”
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
