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'''Boris Vladimirovich Stomakhin''' ('']'': Борис Владимирович Стомахин) (born August 24, 1974 in ]) is a Russian ] ], and editor of "Radical politics" periodical. He was convicted three times for hate speech, incriminating him advocating a dismemberment of the Russian Federation and inciting ethnic and religious hatred, and justification of terrorism. The convictions have been questioned by ] organizations ], ], and ].
]
'''Boris Vladimirovich Stomakhin''' ('']'': Борис Владимирович Стомахин), (born ], ], ]), is a ] ] ], ], and editor of political periodicals. He was sentenced to five years of prison for inciting religious and ethnic hatred, promoting violent change of constitutional regime, calls for violation of terriorial integrity of Russian Federation, defamatory statements(articles 280 and 282 of the Russian Criminal Code).<ref name=sent/>


==Journalism and political activism== ==Journalism and political activism==
Boris Stomakhin was an editor of monthly newspaper "Radical Politics" since 2000. Besides, he contributed numerous materials to ], the ] internet agency that promotes independence of ] and is maintained by Chechen separatists.


Stomakhin was a member of ] ].<ref name="mao"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702143844/http://rgf.maoism.ru/Lenin.htm |date=2007-07-02 }}.</ref> Later he became a leader of a ] political group "Revolutionary Contact Association" (RCA).
Stomakhin in his articles advocated terrorist attacks on Russian civilians<ref name=sent/>,<ref name="conviction"></ref><ref name="Lenta"></ref> called to overthrow violently current government of Russian Federation<ref name=sent/><ref name=conviction/><ref name=Lenta/>, advocated extermination of all Russians<ref name=sent/><ref name=conviction/><ref name=Lenta/>, claimed that Russian troops in Chechnya are "occupiers" and compared President ] to ] and ]<ref name="hrh"> </ref>.
According to his court sentence, Stomakhin also stated that modern Russia is ] and therefore must be destroyed, and considered ] and ] as heroes of Chechen resistance whose ] activities are ] <ref name="sent"> </ref>. However, some human rights activists like ] and ] did not believe that he actually promoted any terrorist activities <ref name=Svoboda> ] {{ru icon}} </ref>


Since 2000, Boris Stomakhin was an editor of the monthly newspaper "Radical Politics". In addition, he contributed numerous materials to ], the radical ] internet agency that promoted the independence of ] and is maintained by Chechen separatists.
Some journalists like M. Smolin from ] described his views as extremely russophobic, and suggested that Stomakhin is mentally ill. <ref name="KM"></ref>


According to Russian court, Stomakhin called for the violent overthrow of government,<ref name="Sentence"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211025136/http://www.zaborisa.narod.ru/061120prigovor.html |date=2007-02-11 }}</ref> claimed that Russian troops in Chechnya are "occupiers", compared President ] to ] and ].,<ref name="hrh">{{Cite web |url=http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=4975 |title=Independent journalist given five-year sentence allegedly for inciting ethnic strife |access-date=2006-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101222045/http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=4975 |archive-date=2007-01-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> called modern Russia "an ]" that must be destroyed, and considered ] and ] as heroes of legitimate Chechen resistance.<ref name="Sentence"/>
Stomakhin criticized Russian government in defamatory and obscene statements.<ref name=sent/><ref name=conviction/>


According to ] and ], Stomakhin did not actually promote any terrorist activities and became a political prisoner.<ref name=Svoboda> ] {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
Orthodox religion, according to Stomakhin opinion, should be liquidated and he called not to recognize such religion. <ref name="fedosenko"></ref>


==Opening of a criminal case against Stomakhin==
Stomakhin was a leader of a ] political group "Revolutionary Contact Association" (RCA). Other members of this organization are Pavel Kantor, Dmitry Tarasov, Ludmila Evstifeeva, and Pavel Luzakov. They organized a number of ]s against Russian foreign policy in Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus, Chechnya.


Attempts to prosecute Stomakhin for ] were made unsuccessfully in 2000.<ref name="Abarinov"/>
According to the Russian newspaper '']'' Stomakhin's organization might be involved with Chechen hostage-takers, based on information provided by ]. ''Utro'' alleged that during the ], terrorists had "contacted with activists of Revolutionary Contact Association" and they "may be involved in supplying terrorists with ammunition and its storing at Moscow"<ref name="Utro"> </ref>


Successful application to prosecute Stomakhin was made by ] ] ] member ] at the request of another Communist party member Valentina Lavrova.<ref name="kol"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919074458/http://kolokol.ru/activists/69450.html |date=2009-09-19 }}</ref> Valentina Lavrova has acquired a copy of Stomakhin ] ], while being on ] in ], ], in September 2002.<ref name="Abarinov"/> Being insulted by the text of periodicals she hasn't rushed immediately to authorities, and began to collect the evidence by visiting public actions of Stomakhin and acquiring new numbers of his periodical. After collecting the evidence she referred not to police or security authorities, but to the member of parliament, Viktor Zorkaltsev.<ref name="Abarinov"/>
Stomakhin was accused of the ] activities, calls to violent change of Constitutional regime, calls to violate territorial integrity of Russian Federation, ], inciting ethnic and religious hatred in his articles, which covered among other things, the Chechen conflict, the Russian Orthodox Church, and Russian nation.<ref name=sent/><ref name=conviction/> A case against him was opened in December 2003.<ref name=sent/><ref name=conviction/> His home was raided in April 2004 and his computers and books were confiscated for the expertise. Stomakhin was interrogated. The Psychiatric expertise at ] found that Stomakhin is ] for the trial. Stomakhin escaped to the ] seeking political asylum status, which was eventually denied, despite Stomakhin's claims that he is politically prosecuted in Russian Federation<ref name=Lenta/>.

<blockquote></blockquote>
Stomakhin's home was searched in April 2004 and his computers and books were confiscated.<ref name="Sentence"/> Stomakhin fled to ] seeking ], which was eventually denied.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}


==Arrest and trial== ==Arrest and trial==
Having returned to Moscow, Stomakhin was arrested on ] ]. Stomakhin tried to escape during his arrest and fell down from fourth floor of his building, according to his lawyer Alexei Golubev and news reports <ref name="press1"> </ref><ref name="press2"> </ref><ref name="press3"> </ref><ref name="press4"> </ref><ref name="press5"> </ref> <ref name="ngo1"> </ref><ref name="ngo2"> </ref><ref name="inter1"> </ref><ref name="inter2"> </ref> His spine and bones were broken as a result. Having returned to Moscow, Stomakhin was arrested on March 21, 2006. Stomakhin tried to escape during his arrest and fell down from fourth floor of his building, according to his lawyer Alexei Golubev and news reports.<ref name="press1"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116020716/http://prima-news.ru/news/news/2006/3/29/35420.html |date=2006-11-16 }}</ref><ref name="press2"></ref><ref name="press4"></ref><ref name="press5"></ref><ref name="ngo1"></ref><ref name="ngo2"></ref><ref name="inter1"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522101939/http://rian.ru/defense_safety/investigations/20061005/54549461.html |date=2011-05-22 }}</ref><ref name="inter2"></ref> His spine and bones were broken as a result.


Stomakhin was subsequently interrogated. Psychiatry experts at the ] found that Stomakhin was ] to stand trial.<ref name="Sentence"/>
He was sentenced to five years of prison for extremist activities, inciting religious and ethnic hatred, promoting violent change of constitutional regime, calls for violation of terriorial integrity of Russian Federation, defamatory statements(articles 280 and 282 of the Russian Criminal Code).<ref name=sent/>


He was sentenced to five years of prison for inciting hatred and defamatory statements aimed at groups and persons of particular religious and ethnic background and for promoting violent change of constitutional regime and violation of territorial integrity of Russian Federation (articles 280 and 282 of the Russian Criminal Code).<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211025136/http://www.zaborisa.narod.ru/061120prigovor.html |date=2007-02-11 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
Below are several Stomakhin's citations cited as incriminating evidence in the court sentence:
*"] was justified, natural and legal... The Chechens have full moral right to blow up anything they want in Russia after all that Russia and Russians did to them, none objections on humanism and philanthropy could be accepted."<ref name="sent"> </ref>
*"We, 'Revolutionary Contact Association' and 'Radical Politics' are united with the Committee and are ready to cooperate with it. It is understood that we are lot more radical than it. We are for not waiting until 2008 and we shouldn't bother ourselves particularly with Constitution, but we are for calling people to overthrow and liquidate Putin's regime as soon as possible. And we at all do not see possibility of preserving of present Russian Federation as a single state. But we are for common front with all our allies, even more moderate".<ref name="sent"> </ref>
*"Let tens of new Chechen snipers take their positions in the mountain ridges and the city ruins and let hundreds, thousands of aggressors fall under righteous bullets! No mercy! Death to the Russian occupiers!"<ref name="sent"> </ref>
*"After all, with the same Budanov's - maniacs, blood lusting sadists, murderers and degenerates with epaulets - all Chechnya is currently filled up. And it is Russian occupation army consists of these same Budanov's".<ref name="sent"> </ref>
*"In Chechnya Russian army ceased to exist as a military structure of a state, finally turned into devilish gang of marauders and killers, intoxicated with narcotics gang".<ref name="sent"> </ref>


In five years after his arrest on 21 March 2011 Somakhin was released from jail.<ref name="Kasparov">{{cite news | url=http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4D885ECA2BF08 | title=От звонка до звонка | accessdate=March 23, 2011 | date=22 March 2011 | publisher=]}}</ref>
Stomakhin pleaded not guilty. According to ], news agency, cited by the Committee to Protect Journalists he said he was "tried for his views and not for any real crime. ... In the articles, I expressed my opinion, with which people were free to agree or disagree." He said an opinion was not a “call to action.”.

However, according to the official court sentence, Stomahin pleaded not guilty on the grounds that he never made public appeals for extremist activities, never called for violent change of the constitutional regime, and never incited ethnic hatred.<ref name=sent/>
== Second arrest, new criminal case and conviction ==

Boris Stomakhin was arrested again at his apartment Nov. 20 2012 and on a charge of violating the "anti-extremist" articles of the Criminal Code (articles 282 and 205 of the Criminal Code). Detention was the anniversary of his conviction in 2006. Court authorized his detention until 9 February 2013. The investigation was opened on July 10, 2012 and, although this was not mentioned anywhere, and Stomakhin summonses for questioning did not get up to the time of his detention.

The subject of the charges brought against the 21 November 2012 and served as the signature of three articles Stomakhin published on the Internet, namely, "Do not let another Holocaust" and "Untermensch" (in Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code, "excitement hatred and hostility on grounds of nationality or origin"), and "Mourning" (in Part 1 of the Criminal Code st.205.2, "public justification of terrorism"). In case are other article signed Stomakhin published since 2001 and (also before his first arrest).<ref></ref> The investigation Stomakhin refused to give evidence in accordance with Article 51 of the Constitution.

The arrest of journalist was condemned by a number of public figures, including historian and sociologist Alec D. Epstein,<ref></ref> journalists Daniel Kotsjubinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky, a former member of the Federation Council Alexei Manannikov, the former ] and political prisoners Adele Naydenovich, ], ], Paul Lyuzakov, Elena Sannikova, ],<ref></ref> and Cyril Podrabinek, ].,<ref></ref> ]. A campaign for his release. So, on the actions of the Russian opposition to 2012-2013 s raised banners with the text "Free Boris Stomakhin", his portraits with the inscription "Boris Stomakhin. 5 years in prison" were pasted on the walls Russian embassy in Berlin the night of January 16, 2013 and during the campaign in support of arrested activists of the Russian opposition,<ref></ref> more than 100 opposition signed a petition demanding the release Stomakhin.<ref></ref>

22 April 2014 Stomakhin was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} 15 July 2014 sentence has been approved by Moscow city court.

==Third trial==
After the third trial, on April 20, 2015 the sentence was extended to 7 years.<ref name=arka></ref>

==European Court of Human Rights decision==
In May 2018 the ] found that the Stomakhin’s punishment was not proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued and awarded him EUR 12,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage.<ref></ref>

==Release and emigration==
In September 2019 Stomakhin was released from imprisonment. In November 2019 he left Russia and asked for asylum in ].<ref></ref>


==Commentaries== ==Commentaries==
] international organization, which protects ], stated that "we do not believe Mr. Stomakhin’s comments can be interpreted as incitement to ethnic hatred." <ref name="a19"> , 23 November 2006 </ref>


===Support===
], government opposition figure, leader of the ], claimed that the prosecution of Stomakhin was the start of a wider campaign, "because together with him, the entire human rights sector and the entire democratic movement will be put on trial for disagreeing with the majority, for not accepting the state policy of the Russian Federation, for sympathizing with the Chechen people, for anti-war demonstrations and pickets." <ref name="Novo"> - by Jamestown Foundation </ref>
] said that "people like Boris are the most dangerous for the Putin's regime that deceived millions of Russians, brought them to their knees and transformed them to slaves".<ref>''Political prisoner Boris Stomakhin'', page 10</ref> According to priest ], "Stomakin made a picture of ] with ]? Well, I believe that not only Putin and his generals deserve to wear swastika, but also all Russian civilians who pretend that they know nothing about the genocide of Chechens and discrimination of Georgians in Russia"<ref>''Political prisoner Boris Stomakhin'', page 14</ref>

Stomakhin was qualified as a ]" by the ] and as a ] in an open letter send to ] leaders by Russia's human rights activists ], ].


A group of Russian citizens including ] condemned the conviction of Stomakhin as prosecution of ].<ref name="Bukovsky"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210222840/http://www.zaborisa.narod.ru/ds.html |date=2007-02-10 }}</ref>
According to Micah H. Naftalin, Director of ], "Bogus charges aimed at stifling dissent, cruel police tactics, ethnic bias, and blatant disregard for criminal procedural statutes are all on open display. We hope that others will join us in condemning this travesty of justice" <ref name="Micah"> , statement of UCSJ November 9, 2006) </ref>. He argued that Stomakhin's sentence was disproportionate, but acknowledged that Stomakhin's statements were ''radical''.
He emphasized that Boris Stomakhin did not do anything violent, unlike in many other real ] cases that were not prosecuted by Russian authorities. According to the statement of ], Stomakhin 'was probably pushed from the window', however this accusation contradicts to numerous mass media and NGO reports<ref name="press1"> </ref><ref name="press2"> </ref><ref name="press3"> </ref><ref name="press4"> </ref><ref name="press5"> </ref> <ref name="ngo1"> </ref><ref name="ngo2"> </ref> and statements by Stomakhin's lawyer Alexei Golubev<ref name="inter1"> </ref><ref name="inter2"> </ref> according to which Stomakhin jumped out of the window voluntarily.


Widow of ] ] compared Stomakhin with Soviet dissidents who were prosecuted for their writings by ].<ref name="Bonner"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210223146/http://www.zaborisa.narod.ru/lena.html |date=2007-02-10 }}.</ref>
Soviet dissident ] signed the letter that condemned the conviction of Stomakhin as prosecution of ]. It was noted in the letter that many famous Russian writers were very critical of Russian nation and cited ] who said that Russians are "a pitiful nation of slaves. We are all slaves, from the top to the bottom " <ref name="Bukovsky">
by ] and others </ref>


Human rights activist ] and politician ] argued that Stomakhin's writings while being "absolutely outrageous" and "inciting national hatred" had not been a public threat: they were very unlikely to incite anybody <ref name="Opinions"> - by Anna Karpuk for grani.ru</ref><ref name="Val1"> - by ] for grani.ru</ref><ref name="Val2"> - by ] for grani.ru</ref>
Widow of ] ] sighned the letter which stated that Stomakhin is not guilty in extremism and hate speech, and he is a victim of political prosecution like Soviet dissidents who were prosecuted for their writings by ]. <ref name="Bonner">
. </ref>


Journalist Vladimir Abarinov criticized court proceedings as an example of ]<ref name="Abarinov"> - by Vladimir Abarinov for grani.ru.</ref> He claimed that the criminal case against Stomakhin was opened based on solely an article about ] that was not written by Stomakhin. It was decided by the court that Stomakhin actually copied this article from a ] entry, as well as other publications of numerous news agencies.<ref name="Sentence"/> The authors of the original work disagree to share their responsibility with Stomakhin citing that he had reproduced their works without permission and distorted the original meaning.<ref name="Abarinov"/>
Former FSB officer, writer, and dissident ] praised Stomakhin as "last conscience of Russia" <ref name="Litvinenko"> </ref>. Litvinenko also stated the he fully supports the following Stomakhin's citation: "Not pacifist wails of 'human rights activists', not agreements and 'negotiations' with executioners and sadists - but only an armed strike!", compromising his alleged status as a ]. Even such vocal supporters of Stomakhin as Valeria Novodvorskaya agree that Stomakhin is not a "prisoner of conscience" since he supported violence <ref name=Svoboda/>.
Human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and politician Valeria Novodvorskaya argued that Stomakhin's writings while outrageous had not been a public threat: they were very unlikely to incite anybody. According to Gannushkina and Novodvorskaya the ] who pose a real threat usually receive only minimal sentences or no sentences at all. Thus, the five year prison term to Stomahin is extremely excessive <ref name="Opinions"> - by Anna Karpuk for grani.ru </ref> <ref name="Val1"> - by ] for grani.ru </ref> <ref name="Val2"> - by ] for grani.ru </ref>. However, Gannushkina in the same interview acknowledged that some Stomakhin's articles were 'absolutely outrageous' and she 'categorically disagrees with what was written or told by Stomakhin'.<ref name="Opinions"> - by Anna Karpuk for grani.ru </ref>


===Criticism===
Journalist Vladimir Abarinov criticized conviction of Stomakhin <ref name="Abarinov"> - by Vladimir Abarinov for grani.ru.</ref> He noted that the criminal case against Stomakhin was opened based on an article about ] that was not written by Stomakhin. It was established by the court that Stomakhin actually plagiarized this article from the Live Journal entry, as well as other publications of numerous news agencies<ref name="Sentence"></ref>. The authors of the original works refused to share their responsibility with Stomakhin because Stomakhin had published their works without permission and distorted the original meaning <ref name="Abarinov"/>
M. Smolin from ] described views of Stomakhin as extremely ].<ref name="KM">{{Dead link|date=October 2015}}</ref>


Critics of the court decision were denounced by publicist {{Interlanguage link multi|Maxim Yuryevich Sokolov|ru|3=Соколов, Максим Юрьевич (журналист)|lt=Maxim Sokolov}}. In his article published in '']'' newspaper after the conviction of Stomakhin<ref name="Izves"> (''Catch 282''), Maxim Sokolov, ] 23 November 2006</ref> he remarked that Stomakhin's writings were worse than ] by ] ("Against this backdrop, Mein Kampf is a textbook of humanism.") and that the ] must be prosecuted according to the article 282 of the Russian criminal code. He cited in support a text written by Boris Stomakhin, that "] and ] must be exterminated" by all available means including ], because all Russians are collectively responsible for actions of their government with respect to ]. According to Sokolov, the cited passage made application of the article 282 completely appropriate.<ref name="Sentence"/>
Critics of the court decision were strongly censured by
Russian publicist Maxim Sokolov. In his newspaper article published after the conviction of Stomakhin <ref name="Izves"> ] ] ]</ref> he argued that unlimited ] should be prosecuted according to the article 282 of the criminal code.
He cited Stomakhin's article ''Death to Russia'' published on the website of the ''Revolutionary Contact Association'' <ref name=Sto></ref>. The article was written
in response to murder of last elected president of unrecognized by the world community ] ] by Russian forces.


Aleksandr Cherkasov of the human rights center ] stated that they did not consider Stomakhin ], because his writings did call for discrimination and violence. At the same time he described the punishment as excessive, because Stomakhin did not organize any criminal acts.<ref name=arka/>
The Stomakhin's article contained the following passages written by Stomakhin: ''Kill, Kill, Kill! To flood all Russia with blood, to not give a quarter to anyone, to try to make at least one atomic explosion on the territory of Russian Federation -- this is like the program of radical Resistance should be, and Russian's, and Chechen's, and anyone's! Let the Russians, according to their deserts, reap as they has sown''<ref name="Izves"/> <ref name=Sto/>. ''Russians should be killed, and only killed, for there is no one among them who is normal, intelligent, or who can be talked with and for understanding of whom we could rely. Harsh collective responsibility of all Russians should be introduced, of all loyal Russian citizens for the actions of the government elected by them -- for the genocide, executions, ordeals, trade with corpses... From that moment there should be no division of killers on combatant and non-combatant, wilful or forced''<ref name=Sto/>.
According to Sokolov the cited passages made application of the article 282 completely appropriate.


==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
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* * {{in lang|ru}} , dated November 20, 2006
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Latest revision as of 01:54, 5 April 2024

Boris Vladimirovich Stomakhin (Russian: Борис Владимирович Стомахин) (born August 24, 1974 in Moscow) is a Russian radical political activist, and editor of "Radical politics" periodical. He was convicted three times for hate speech, incriminating him advocating a dismemberment of the Russian Federation and inciting ethnic and religious hatred, and justification of terrorism. The convictions have been questioned by human rights organizations ARTICLE 19, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

Journalism and political activism

Stomakhin was a member of Maoist Revolutionary Workers Party. Later he became a leader of a radical political group "Revolutionary Contact Association" (RCA).

Since 2000, Boris Stomakhin was an editor of the monthly newspaper "Radical Politics". In addition, he contributed numerous materials to Kavkaz Center, the radical Islamic internet agency that promoted the independence of Chechnya and is maintained by Chechen separatists.

According to Russian court, Stomakhin called for the violent overthrow of government, claimed that Russian troops in Chechnya are "occupiers", compared President Vladimir Putin to Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milošević., called modern Russia "an Evil empire" that must be destroyed, and considered Shamil Basaev and Salman Raduev as heroes of legitimate Chechen resistance.

According to Valeria Novodvorskaya and Yakov Krotov, Stomakhin did not actually promote any terrorist activities and became a political prisoner.

Opening of a criminal case against Stomakhin

Attempts to prosecute Stomakhin for hate speech were made unsuccessfully in 2000.

Successful application to prosecute Stomakhin was made by opposition Communist Party State Duma member Viktor Zorkaltsev at the request of another Communist party member Valentina Lavrova. Valentina Lavrova has acquired a copy of Stomakhin Radical Politics periodical, while being on rally in Mayakovsky Square, Moscow, in September 2002. Being insulted by the text of periodicals she hasn't rushed immediately to authorities, and began to collect the evidence by visiting public actions of Stomakhin and acquiring new numbers of his periodical. After collecting the evidence she referred not to police or security authorities, but to the member of parliament, Viktor Zorkaltsev.

Stomakhin's home was searched in April 2004 and his computers and books were confiscated. Stomakhin fled to Ukraine seeking political asylum, which was eventually denied.

Arrest and trial

Having returned to Moscow, Stomakhin was arrested on March 21, 2006. Stomakhin tried to escape during his arrest and fell down from fourth floor of his building, according to his lawyer Alexei Golubev and news reports. His spine and bones were broken as a result.

Stomakhin was subsequently interrogated. Psychiatry experts at the Moscow Serbsky Institute found that Stomakhin was competent to stand trial.

He was sentenced to five years of prison for inciting hatred and defamatory statements aimed at groups and persons of particular religious and ethnic background and for promoting violent change of constitutional regime and violation of territorial integrity of Russian Federation (articles 280 and 282 of the Russian Criminal Code).

In five years after his arrest on 21 March 2011 Somakhin was released from jail.

Second arrest, new criminal case and conviction

Boris Stomakhin was arrested again at his apartment Nov. 20 2012 and on a charge of violating the "anti-extremist" articles of the Criminal Code (articles 282 and 205 of the Criminal Code). Detention was the anniversary of his conviction in 2006. Court authorized his detention until 9 February 2013. The investigation was opened on July 10, 2012 and, although this was not mentioned anywhere, and Stomakhin summonses for questioning did not get up to the time of his detention.

The subject of the charges brought against the 21 November 2012 and served as the signature of three articles Stomakhin published on the Internet, namely, "Do not let another Holocaust" and "Untermensch" (in Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code, "excitement hatred and hostility on grounds of nationality or origin"), and "Mourning" (in Part 1 of the Criminal Code st.205.2, "public justification of terrorism"). In case are other article signed Stomakhin published since 2001 and (also before his first arrest). The investigation Stomakhin refused to give evidence in accordance with Article 51 of the Constitution.

The arrest of journalist was condemned by a number of public figures, including historian and sociologist Alec D. Epstein, journalists Daniel Kotsjubinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky, a former member of the Federation Council Alexei Manannikov, the former Soviet dissidents and political prisoners Adele Naydenovich, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Andrey Derevyankin, Paul Lyuzakov, Elena Sannikova, Alexander Podrabinek, and Cyril Podrabinek, Valeria Novodvorskaya., Pyotr Verzilov. A campaign for his release. So, on the actions of the Russian opposition to 2012-2013 s raised banners with the text "Free Boris Stomakhin", his portraits with the inscription "Boris Stomakhin. 5 years in prison" were pasted on the walls Russian embassy in Berlin the night of January 16, 2013 and during the campaign in support of arrested activists of the Russian opposition, more than 100 opposition signed a petition demanding the release Stomakhin.

22 April 2014 Stomakhin was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. 15 July 2014 sentence has been approved by Moscow city court.

Third trial

After the third trial, on April 20, 2015 the sentence was extended to 7 years.

European Court of Human Rights decision

In May 2018 the European Court of Human Rights found that the Stomakhin’s punishment was not proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued and awarded him EUR 12,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

Release and emigration

In September 2019 Stomakhin was released from imprisonment. In November 2019 he left Russia and asked for asylum in Ukraine.

Commentaries

Support

Alexander Litvinenko said that "people like Boris are the most dangerous for the Putin's regime that deceived millions of Russians, brought them to their knees and transformed them to slaves". According to priest Yakov Krotov, "Stomakin made a picture of Putin with swastika? Well, I believe that not only Putin and his generals deserve to wear swastika, but also all Russian civilians who pretend that they know nothing about the genocide of Chechens and discrimination of Georgians in Russia"

Stomakhin was qualified as a prisoner of conscience" by the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews and as a political prisoner in an open letter send to G7 leaders by Russia's human rights activists Sergei Kovalev, Yelena Bonner.

A group of Russian citizens including Vladimir Bukovsky condemned the conviction of Stomakhin as prosecution of free speech.

Widow of Andrei Sakharov Elena Bonner compared Stomakhin with Soviet dissidents who were prosecuted for their writings by Yuri Andropov.

Human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and politician Valeria Novodvorskaya argued that Stomakhin's writings while being "absolutely outrageous" and "inciting national hatred" had not been a public threat: they were very unlikely to incite anybody

Journalist Vladimir Abarinov criticized court proceedings as an example of kangaroo court He claimed that the criminal case against Stomakhin was opened based on solely an article about Russian Orthodox Church that was not written by Stomakhin. It was decided by the court that Stomakhin actually copied this article from a Live Journal entry, as well as other publications of numerous news agencies. The authors of the original work disagree to share their responsibility with Stomakhin citing that he had reproduced their works without permission and distorted the original meaning.

Criticism

M. Smolin from Komsomolskaya Pravda described views of Stomakhin as extremely Russophobic.

Critics of the court decision were denounced by publicist Maxim Sokolov [ru]. In his article published in Izvestia newspaper after the conviction of Stomakhin he remarked that Stomakhin's writings were worse than Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler ("Against this backdrop, Mein Kampf is a textbook of humanism.") and that the hate speech must be prosecuted according to the article 282 of the Russian criminal code. He cited in support a text written by Boris Stomakhin, that "Russian Federation and Russians must be exterminated" by all available means including nuclear bomb, because all Russians are collectively responsible for actions of their government with respect to Chechen people. According to Sokolov, the cited passage made application of the article 282 completely appropriate.

Aleksandr Cherkasov of the human rights center Memorial stated that they did not consider Stomakhin political prisoner, because his writings did call for discrimination and violence. At the same time he described the punishment as excessive, because Stomakhin did not organize any criminal acts.

References

  1. Lenin, facsists and sexual minorities freedom Archived 2007-07-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ Official Court Sentence on Russian language dated 20.11.2006 Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Independent journalist given five-year sentence allegedly for inciting ethnic strife". Archived from the original on 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  4. Boris Stomakhin:Victim of the Regime or a Terrorist Radio Liberty (in Russian)
  5. ^ Stomakhin Case - by Vladimir Abarinov for grani.ru.
  6. Radical politics and unrestrainted silliness Archived 2009-09-19 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Prima News Agency report Archived 2006-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
  8. NewsRu Agency report
  9. Regnum News Agency report
  10. Grani News Agency report
  11. Human Rights Activists Website of Valeria Novodvorskaya article
  12. Center of Extremal Journalism article
  13. RIAN News Agency investigation Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
  14. RIAN News Agency news article
  15. Text of Stomakhin's sentence Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  16. "От звонка до звонка". Kasparov.ru. 22 March 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  17. Chronicle of a new criminal case against Boris Stomakhin
  18. Alex Epstein, "The Glass Bead Game Boris Stomakhin"
  19. Alexander Podrabinek "Human Rights cross"
  20. Valeria Novodvorskaya "Unprotected opposition"
  21. Berlin Action in defense of Russian political prisoners in Berlin
  22. Freedom Boris Stomakhin! No harassment for thoughts and words!
  23. ^ Суд приговорил публициста Бориса Стомахина к семи годам заключения
  24. CASE OF STOMAKHIN v. RUSSIA
  25. Публицист Борис Стомахин уехал из России после освобождения из колонии
  26. Political prisoner Boris Stomakhin, page 10
  27. Political prisoner Boris Stomakhin, page 14
  28. Open letter in support of Boris Stomakhin Archived 2007-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  29. Letter by Sannikova and Bonner Archived 2007-02-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  30. Conviction of Boris Stomakhin: Opinions (Russian) - by Anna Karpuk for grani.ru
  31. Scapegoats - by Valeria Novodvorskaya for grani.ru
  32. Second-hand fascism - by Valeria Novodvorskaya for grani.ru
  33. Komsomolskaya Pravda article
  34. "Ловушка-282" (Catch 282), Maxim Sokolov, Izvestia 23 November 2006

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