Source: www.forum18.org
Date: August 8, 2024
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
An independent Christian preacher from the Urals is awaiting criminal trial
on charges of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian armed forces and state
bodies (Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1). "Most likely, it will all end
with a prison term for me", Eduard Charov noted. He is currently banned
from leaving his home district and using the telephone or internet.
Charov and his wife run a shelter for homeless people – originally called
"For the Sake of Christ" when it was a state-registered organisation - in
his home in the Sverdlovsk Region village of Savinovo. "During
conversations with Eduard, he has recommended himself as a sympathetic and
caring person, ready to come to the aid of people who find themselves in
difficult circumstances," the Russian Orthodox priest in the village has
noted (see below).
Charov first faced administrative prosecution in spring 2023 for comments
on social media, including the remark addressed to "church people": "would
Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine????!" (see below).
Charov's second alleged offence, for which he is currently facing
prosecution, involved reposting a quotation about patriotism. He could not
have faced criminal charges under Article 280.3, Part 1 had he not already
been punished under the associated Administrative Code Article (see below).
The Investigative Committee in Krasnoufimsk (Sverdlovsk Region) has also
charged Charov under Criminal Code Article 205.3, Part 2 ("Public calls to
commit terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or
propaganda of terrorism, using the internet") for what his wife Inna called
a "sarcastic comment" on another user's post on the VKontakte social
network in September 2023 (see below).
Criminal Code Article 205.3, Part 2 carries a possible punishment of 5 to 7
years' imprisonment or a fine of 300,000 to 1 million Roubles, while
Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1 carries penalties of up to five years'
imprisonment or a fine of up to 300,000 Roubles. The court will try Charov
on both charges together, but has not yet registered the cases (see below).
Forum 18 asked Krasnoufimsk Inter-District Prosecutor's Office, Sverdlovsk
Region Investigative Committee and the press service of the Federal
Investigative Committee in Moscow why reposting a quotation is considered
"discreditation" of the state bodies of the Russian Federation, when the
quotation does not mention Russia or any specific state institution, and
Charov did not add any comment.
Aleksandr Shulga of Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee responded to
Forum 18 that any information on Charov's case "is not subject to
disclosure". Krasnoufimsk's Acting Inter-District Prosecutor Ilya Kashin,
told Forum 18: "Preliminary investigation data may be disclosed only with
the permission of the investigator." the Federal Investigative Committee in
Moscow did not respond (see below).
Since Charov's first (administrative) conviction for "discreditation",
local authorities have put increasing pressure on him and the shelter for
homeless and destitute people he and his wife run in Savinovo. Some
volunteers have stopped helping at his shelter (see below).
Orthodox priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov, who also criticised Russia's war in
Ukraine from a religious perspective on his YouTube channel, was released
from prison in St Petersburg on 1 August after completing his sentence for
"disseminating false information about the Russian armed forces" (Criminal
Code Article 207.3, Part 2) (see below).
In Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar Region, the city administration asked a
court to order the demolition of an Orthodox church (not part of the Moscow
Patriarchate) whose Archbishop has been prosecuted for vehemently opposing
the war in his writings and sermons. On 18 June, the court refused to grant
this request, concluding that the statute of limitations on such
proceedings had long expired. Although the administration does not appear
to have appealed, the church community still fears further pressure from
the authorities (see below).
Pressure on religious-inspired opposition to Russia's war against Ukraine
Soon after Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine in February
2022, it introduced new offences in order to prosecute those opposing the
war for any reason, including on religious grounds.
On 4 March 2022, specific Criminal Code and Administrative Code penalties
for "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
alongside Criminal Code penalties for spreading "false information" about
the Armed Forces' actions. Some of the criminal penalties were increased on
28 March 2023 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Although the Russian government introduced Administrative Code Article
20.3.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
associated Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
order to punish "discreditation" of the Armed Forces, amendments to the law
on 25 March 2022 expanded the definition of this offence to include
"discreditation" of "the execution by state bodies of the Russian
Federation of their powers for the specified purposes", ie. protecting
Russian interests and "maintaining international peace and security".
The government has used a range of tactics
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
leaders into supporting the renewed invasion of Ukraine. These tactics
include warnings to senior and local religious leaders, and prosecuting and
fining religious believers and clergy who have publicly opposed the war.
Similar warnings and prosecutions have been used against many Russians who
express opposition to the war for any reason.
Since February 2022, courts have on criminal charges jailed two and fined
three (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Russia's war in Ukraine on religious grounds. Investigators have also
opened three criminal cases against people who have left Russia. Many
others have received administrative fines.
The government has blocked websites
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
on religious grounds, and those that report on the impact of the war on
people and places of worship in Ukraine. It has also blocked websites of
Ukrainian religious organisations.
"Discrediting" the Russian state authorities
Christian preacher Eduard Aleksandrovich Charov (born 18 July 1971), who
with his wife runs a shelter in his home in the village of Savinovo in
Sverdlovsk Region, is facing criminal prosecution for further online
comments opposing Russia's war in Ukraine.
On 23 May 2024, Krasnoufimsk Investigative Department of the Investigative
Committee opened a case against Charov under Criminal Code Article 280.3,
Part 1 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation").
According to a letter and two-page Investigative Committee resolution,
posted on Charov's VKontakte page on 27 June, he stands accused of making a
social media post judged by unnamed experts to contain "linguistic and
psychological signs of persuading [readers] of the negative nature of the
goals of Russian state bodies' use of their powers, that is, their
discreditation".
Investigators have combined the case with their prosecution of Charov under
Criminal Code Article 205.2 (see below), his wife Inna Charova told Govorit
Ne Moskva on 29 June
(https://nemoskva.net/2024/06/
Charov is likely to appear in court on both charges in August, she wrote on
3 July on his VKontakte page. She took over his VKontakte page in February,
after investigators placed him under specific restrictions as part of the
earlier criminal case. Krasnoufimsk District Court has not yet registered
the cases, so it is as yet unknown when hearings may begin.
"I don't understand politics, but I see what's going on in the country.
Murderers and rapists are pardoned, and honest people are simply jailed for
their words", Inna commented to Takiye Dela on 3 April, after the
initiation of the first criminal case. "You can sit it out, keep quiet,
without attracting the attention of the authorities, but then you will
still answer to God. You should not fear the judgment of people, but of
God."
September 2023 post
Eduard Charov, who has consistently opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine
and offered sanctuary to men fleeing military mobilisation, made the post
which triggered his criminal prosecution on 3 September 2023, according to
the Investigative Committee documents.
Charov reposted, without comment, an image from another user's VKontakte
page, consisting of white text on a black background, which says in
Russian: "A patriot is someone who wants to make their country better, the
people richer, and the government more honest and fair. Not someone who
justifies total destitution and corruption with imaginary greatness and
spiritual bonds."
The origins of this quotation are unclear. It appears to have been
circulating on Russian-language social media and web forums, with a few
variations, since at least April 2017. A version was also used in
Belarusian on a banner at a Belarusian anti-government picket in Gomel
region in May 2022.
The user from whom Charov reposted the quotation – "Alexey Amosov", who
lists his hometown as Leningrad – says in his profile that he "translates
the news from Putinist TV channels into honest Russian language".
Krasnogvardeysky District Court in St Petersburg convicted an Aleksey
Aleksandrovich Amosov under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
is unclear whether this is the same person, or what exactly gave rise to
the prosecution.
"Not subject to disclosure"
Forum 18 asked Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee and the press
service of the Federal Investigative Committee in Moscow why reposting a
quotation is considered "discreditation" of the state bodies of the Russian
Federation, when the quotation does not mention Russia or any specific
state institution, and Charov did not add any comment.
Forum 18 put the same question to the Krasnoufimsk Inter-District
Prosecutor's Office, also asking what punishment prosecutors would be
seeking.
Aleksandr Shulga, head of Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee press
service, responded on 29 July, stating only that "at present any
information, in one way or another concerning the circumstances of [your]
message, in accordance with the position of the investigation is not
subject to disclosure".
In his response of 5 August, Krasnoufimsk's Acting Inter-District
Prosecutor Ilya Kashin, told Forum 18 that prosecutor's offices "do not
provide information on the interpretation of a legal norm, an explanation
of its application, development of a legal position upon request, [or
analysis] that is not directly related to the protection of the rights of
the information user who submitted the request".
Kashin added that prosecutor's offices are not responsible for the
investigation of criminal cases. "Preliminary investigation data may be
disclosed only with the permission of the investigator." He directed Forum
18 to contact the "preliminary investigative body [ie. the Investigative
Committee]".
Forum 18 had received no reply from the Federal Investigative Committee by
the end of the working day in Moscow of 8 August.
"Would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine?"
Eduard Charov was first convicted of "discreditation" on 18 April 2023
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
District Court fined him 45,000 Roubles under Administrative Code Article
20.3.3, Part 1 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
well as 20,000 Roubles under Administrative Code Article 20.3.1
("Incitement of hatred or enmity"). Sverdlovsk Regional Court upheld these
fines on 24 May and 8 June 2023.
The combined fines represented five months' pension for Charov.
The first-instance court verdicts, seen by Forum 18, state that he made
multiple posts on his VKontakte page from May 2022 onwards, "attributing
purposefully hostile, violent, discriminatory actions of the Armed Forces
of the Russian Federation against civilians or socially significant objects
[and] attributing the commission of war crimes to Russian military
personnel on the territory of Ukraine".
Charov deleted the posts in question before his court appearance. After the
"partial mobilisation" was announced in September 2022, Charov wrote "You
churchmen/church people! Come to your senses! Understand! Think about it,
would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine????!" [punctuation
original], according to the Christians Against War Telegram channel.
In another now-deleted post, Charov apparently also called President
Vladimir Putin the Antichrist, according to independent Russian media
outlet Mediazona (https://zona.media/news/2024/
offered sanctuary at the shelter to any reservists fleeing call-up to the
army.
"For me, [the fines were] a huge amount, my [monthly] pension is 12,700
roubles," Charov told the independent Russian media outlet Takiye Dela on 3
April 2024
(https://takiedela.ru/2024/04/
thought I wouldn't be able to pay the fines. But it turned out that many
people supported me. Strangers called and asked how they could help the
shelter or pay the fines." People donated enough money to pay the fines and
finish building a playground in the village.
Greater attention from the authorities
As time went on, however, Charov's opposition to the war led to greater
isolation, and volunteers who used to help at the shelter stopped coming.
They consider him "a dissident, a fascist, and a 'fifth columnist' all at
once", Charov told Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan
(https://novayagazeta.eu/artic
before his criminal prosecutions began. In Savinovo, he said, "no one
supports the current regime, but they are afraid to talk about it openly".
Charov has also been subject to greater attention from the authorities,
with warnings from the land use inspectorate and the fire service, and a
summons from bailiffs who suspected him of "providing social services and
not paying taxes on this activity", Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan reported on 27
March 2024.
On 21 February, the Krasnoufimsk Investigative Department drew up four more
reports on "discreditation" offences and another on living without
registration, Inna Charova noted on VKontakte. On the same day, the Federal
Migration Service issued Charov with a 2,000 Rouble fine under
Administrative Code Article 19.15.1, Part 1 ("Residence of a citizen of the
Russian Federation .. in a residential premises without registration"). He
challenged the fine unsuccessfully at Krasnoufimsk District Court on 26
March, according to the court website.
Charov explained to Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan that he had de-registered
himself from his address and registered the house in his wife's name in an
attempt to avoid pressure from officials.
Charov founded the shelter about ten years ago and, according to federal
tax records, registered it as a non-profit organisation called "For the
Sake of Christ" in 2017. He decided to liquidate the legal entity in 2021,
believing that "You have to pay too much to the state for the right to help
your neighbour". Thereafter, he and his wife have taken in poor and
homeless people as guests in their home, he told Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan.
"Justification of terrorism"?
In early February 2024, Eduard Charov was also charged under Criminal Code
Article 205.2, Part 2 ("Public calls to commit terrorist activities, public
justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism .. committed using
mass media or electronic or information and telecommunications networks,
including the Internet").
His wife Inna told the It's My City local news outlet
(https://itsmycity.ru/2024-02-
that the basis for the criminal case was a "satirical comment" made in
August 2023 on another user's VKontakte post about an act of arson at a
military recruitment and enlistment office: "Award the Order of Courage
posthumously with confiscation of property".
(The incident in question took place in Polevskoy, a small town in
Sverdlovsk Region, when a man threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of the
building on the evening of 11 August 2023. No one was hurt. A security
guard soon put out the fire and traffic police detained the perpetrator
nearby, the E1.ru local news website reported
(https://www.e1.ru/text/incide
Possible punishments for conviction under Criminal Code Article 205.2, Part
2 include a fine of 300,000 to 1 million Roubles or 5 to 7 years'
imprisonment plus deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or
engage in certain activities for up to 5 years.
The Investigative Committee has placed Charov under specific restrictions,
including a ban on using the phone and internet and a ban on leaving his
home district without permission. From 14 February 2024, Inna Charova has
administered his VKontakte account. On that day, she noted that
investigators had taken Eduard to Yekaterinburg for a forensic psychiatric
examination (which concluded that he had no psychiatric problems). His
health subsequently worsened and he was hospitalised on 28 February: "After
stress, his hands go numb and his legs become worse", Inna explained.
(Charov has had health problems since suffering from hepatitis, blood
poisoning, and temporary paralysis in the year 2000, he told Novaya Gazeta
Kazakhstan
(https://novayagazeta.eu/artic
and has received a disability pension for nearly two decades.)
The Investigative Committee suspended its investigation of the case while
Charov was in hospital, but on 13 May 2024 had his name added to the
Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) "List of Terrorists
and Extremists (https://www.forum18.org/archi
obliges banks to freeze an individual's assets (although small transactions
are permitted).
Both Eduard and Inna appear to believe that he will go to prison. On 3
July, Inna appealed to supporters on VKontakte "to help get my husband
ready for the colony" with clothes, toiletries, and tea.
"Most likely, it will all end with a prison term for me", Eduard told
Takiye Dela on 3 April
(https://takiedela.ru/2024/04/
before the initiation of the second criminal case. "I already have a
suitcase packed at home .. My wife will look after the shelter in the
meantime. And I will continue to help people in prison. There are people in
need everywhere."
Charov was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church, briefly studied at an
Orthodox seminary in his thirties, and later joined a Pentecostal church.
He left the latter as he felt it did not help the needy effectively enough,
and now considers himself "a Christian who does not belong to any of the
official churches", as he explained to Takiye Dela.
Charov believes that the Russian Orthodox Church is "not God's, not a
Christian church, it blesses killing" and "has become an appendage of state
power". He nevertheless maintains good relations with the Moscow
Patriarchate parish in Savinovo: "Sometimes [the priest] drops in to visit
us. It is good that we came across a believing priest in Savinovo, you
rarely meet such people", he commented to Novaya Gazeta Kazakhstan.
On 16 February, Inna Charova posted on Eduard's VKontakte page a character
reference which Fr Igor Savvateyev, priest of the Savinovo parish, had
given to investigators. In it, Fr Igor emphasises the help that Charov has
given to needy and marginalised people over many years, and states that
"During conversations with Eduard, he has recommended himself as a
sympathetic and caring person, ready to come to the aid of people who find
themselves in difficult circumstances."
Anti-war priest released from prison
On 1 August 2024, Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov (of a branch of the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside Russia [ROCOR] not in communion with the Moscow
Patriarchate) was released from Correctional Colony No. 5 in St Petersburg,
where he had been imprisoned from mid-March
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Fr Ioann is now subject to a 2-year ban on "engaging in activities related
to posting publications on the Internet telecommunications network". He is
not known to be under any other post-prison restrictions.
Fr Ioann (born Dmitry Valeryevich Kurmoyarov, 8 January 1968) was the
second person to be imprisoned
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
war in Ukraine from a religious perspective.
In multiple videos on his YouTube channel, he had accused the Russian army
of committing crimes in Ukraine and criticised the "demonic spirituality"
of the Moscow Patriarchate in its support for the invasion. He stated
"'Blessed are the peacemakers' — 'the peacemakers', do you understand the
problem? And those who have unleashed aggression will not be in heaven."
Kalinin District Court in St Petersburg sentenced Fr Ioann on 31 August
2023 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
years' imprisonment under Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"),
Part 2, Paragraphs G and D. These punish the public dissemination of "false
information" about the Russian Armed Forces "for selfish motives" and "for
reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or
enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group".
The latter accusation appeared to derive from Fr Ioann's pronouncement in
the video entitled "Who will be in heaven, and who in hell?" that "Whoever
wants to take revenge on Kyiv and Ukraine, convert to Islam. There is blood
feud in Islam. So, whoever wants to go to heaven, convert to Islam". "I
declare that I had no intention [of committing] and did not commit any acts
aimed at offending Muslims and inciting inter-religious enmity", Fr Ioann
wrote in an open letter published on the Free Ioann Kurmoyarov Telegram
channel on 13 March 2023. "I have always treated Muslims with respect, and
was therefore referring exclusively to the opinions of authoritative
figures in the Islamic world."
The charge of "selfish motives" was based on the fact that it is possible
to earn money from YouTube videos, and Fr Ioann had a bank card linked to
his channel, the Telegram channel of local news site MR7.ru explained on 1
August (https://t.me/MR7ru/24928). MR7 noted, however, that Fr Ioann had
not withdrawn any funds from his YouTube channel, and the criminal case did
not mention any sums.
Investigative Committee officers arrested Fr Ioann on 7 June 2022
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
entirety of the investigation and trial, and the time between his
conviction and his unsuccessful appeal on 15 February 2024, in custody at
St Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison – this counted against his sentence at a
rate of one day in detention to a day and half in the prison colony.
Because Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 2
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
punishment of 10 years' imprisonment, it is considered a serious crime –
Fr Ioann will therefore have an active criminal record (sudimost, the state
of being a convicted person) for 8 years. This has a number of legal,
social, and practical consequences
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
working in certain occupations.
Krasnodar Region church escapes demolition
The Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, an Orthodox
church not affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, was threatened with
demolition (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Archbishop, Viktor Pivovarov, was prosecuted for opposing Russia's war in
Ukraine on religious grounds. On 18 June 2024, however, Slavyansk City
Court refused to uphold the lawsuit lodged by the city administration,
according to the decision seen by Forum 18. The administration had argued
that the church building was an "unauthorised structure".
The administration does not appear to have submitted an appeal within the
stipulated one-month period.
Despite this reprieve, the church community remains concerned. On 25 June,
Archbishop Viktor's YouTube channel was taken down and his access to it
blocked (although it did not appear to have been blocked by the state media
regulator Roskomnadzor). It was reinstated the following day after the
community submitted an appeal to Google, but the company did not explain
why this had happened. (Google's press office did not respond to Forum 18's
26 June enquiry as to whether Russia had asked it to remove Archbishop
Viktor's YouTube channel.)
On 28 June, an employee of the Slavyansk administration, who had appeared
on its behalf during the court case, came and photographed the church from
outside, a church member told Forum 18 from outside Russia.
On 30 October 2023, the Investigative Committee led a raid on the church,
during which unidentified armed men physically assaulted, tortured, and
detained (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Hieromonk Iona Sigida, the Archbishop's assistant. He was later charged
with "disobeying a police officer", as well as "discrediting" the Armed
Forces in an article on the church's website. (No one has been punished for
Fr Iona's torture.)
On 8 April 2024, a court convicted Archbishop Viktor
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces in his sermons and online writings,
and fined him 150,000 Roubles.
Slavyansk Inter-District Investigative Department (a subdivision of the
Krasnodar Region branch of the Investigative Committee) wrote to the
Administration of Slavyansk Urban Settlement on 20 December 2023 about
"elimination of causes and conditions conducive to the commission of
crimes".
It pointed out that Archbishop Viktor had committed his alleged offences
(some still under investigation at this point) "in a public place, namely,
in the building of the Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church .. foreseeing the
inevitability of socially dangerous consequences in the form of
destabilisation of the socio-political situation, the exertion of influence
on public opinion, the formation in society of a negative mood and
disruption of trust in decisions taken by the Supreme Commander in Chief
[and] state bodies of the Russian Federation", and that, rather than the
"individual residential construction" the designated land use permits, "in
actuality there is a church located on this land plot … in which "church
services take place".
After an inspection of the site, the city administration duly lodged a
civil lawsuit on 18 April 2024
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
the court declare the church an "unauthorised structure" and oblige
Archbishop Viktor to demolish it at his own expense.
Judge Natalya Kovalchuk concluded, however, that the three-year statute of
limitations on such a lawsuit had in fact expired in 2009, because
"Kraytekhinventratizatsiya", the state enterprise providing land and
property management services in Krasnodar Region, had notified the city
administration that the church was an "unauthorised structure" in June
2006. She therefore refused to uphold the demolition request.
Eighty-seven-year-old Viktor Pivovarov was ordained a priest in the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), which opened parishes inside Russia
in the early 1990s. In 2006 he became an Archbishop in the Russian
[Rossiyskaya] Orthodox Church (RosPTs), which was founded after a series of
splits within ROCOR. He now leads a rival branch of RosPTs which he
established in 2009 after a further split. It is not in communion with
either other parts of ROCOR or the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church was built in the late 1990s, funded
by donations from parishioners, and has been in continuous use since
January 2000. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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