By Sergey Chernov


Vorotnikov holds his son as they stand in front of a police vehicle similar to the one Voina claims to have set on fire

St. Petersburg law enforcers have filed a new criminal case against award-winning Voina art group for burning down an armored police truck on New Year’s Eve. They also addressed the group, whose activists are in hiding, via news web site Fontanka.ru late last week.
Late on Dec. 31, a Voina activist climbed over a fence surrounding Police Precinct No. 71 on the Petro- grad Side and set fire to a massive Ural truck using Molotov cocktails as an art stunt called “Cop’s Auto- Da-Fe, or Fucking Prometheus,” Voina spokesman and chronicler Alexei Plutser-Sarno said on his Livejournal.com blog.
The statement said the armored Ural police truck was targeted because it was a prison-on-wheels used for holding and transporting detainees.
“This is our modest New Year present to political prisoners from a group of artists,” Voina’s Oleg Vorotnikov said in an email interview this week.

“It’s undisputable that political prisoners are forgotten by Russian society — because they remain locked up in prisons. Political prisoners have become the norm in Russia, and this norm is a despicable crime of the state and its cowardly and indifferent citizens.”

According to Vorotnikov, the group came up with the idea of “giving the gift of a burning prisoner truck” when activist Filipp Kostenko, who spent 15 days in custody after being arrested at the Dec. 6 protest against electoral fraud, was arrested right in the detention center as soon as his term had finished on Dec. 21 and was sentenced for another 15 days on what he called fake charges.
Vorotnikov believes that “Cop’s Auto-Da-Fe” had an immediate ef- fect: The court declined to put Kostenko in a pre-trial detention center at the end of his second prison term on Jan. 4 until his next court hearing due on Jan. 29, despite the investiga- tors’ request for it to do so. Kostenko was released on Jan. 5 after spending 30 days in custody.

“There are characters who act arrogantly and pretend to be kings, annoying everybody and interfering with everyone’s life — but only until the first hurdle,” Vorotnikov said.
“Once they are given a rap on their forehead, such characters quiet down and start behaving respectfully and politely. Such are the cops from the political police in Russia.
“Let them talk now about what methods are more efficient; peaceful dances in condoms at rallies [a reference to music critic Artyom Troitsky, who spoke at a Moscow antifraud rally in December wearing a condom costume] or the smell of fresh napalm at night.”

Published on Jan. 2, Plutser-Sarno’s posting included photos and a video of the arson. As the news made headlines, later on Jan. 2 the police issued a statement saying that the damage was “minor” and that an investigation into the cause of the fire was underway. The police pointed out that a similar blaze in a police car last year originally reported to be arson was in reality caused by a short circuit.
On Friday, however, the police said that a criminal case into “hooliganism” or criminal mischief (Article 213 of the Russian penal code) had been filed over the incident, and addressed Voina via Fontanka.ru, a local news web site that has police ties.
According to the site, the police suggested that the artists should come to a Petrograd Side police pre- cinct, get in touch with the investigator in charge of the case and “present their artistic views.” “In turn, the police officers promise to pass the results of these conversations to journalists in full,” Fontanka.ru continued, sarcastically.
“We are not interested in the cops’ proposal,” Vorotnikov said in an email Monday.

“We don’t feel that we have any lack of communication with journal- ists. We can always arrange a press conference if we need to make a di- rect statement.”
Vorotnikov reminded police that his wife Natalya “Kozlyonok” Sokol and their two-year-old son Kasper had been beaten by plainclothes po- licemen after a Voina press confer- ence in March.
Meanwhile, the group said that a criminal case against its members for the Palace Revolution art stunt, which involved overturning a parked police car in St. Petersburg in Sep- tember 2010, had been closed for the second time.
The case, which charged Vorot- nikov and Leonid Nikolayev with hooliganism motivated by hatred to- ward a social group, was originally closed in mid-October after Herzen Pedagogical University experts came to the conclusion that the police is not a “social group.”

However, the case was reopened two weeks later after the prosecutor’s office repealed the investigators’ de- cision. Voina reported that it had found out Sunday that investigator Vadim Rud closed the case for a sec- ond time as early as Dec. 1.
Vorotnikov and Nikolayev spent three-and-a-half months in pre-trial detention after they were arrested in Moscow in November 2010, but were released on bail — 300,000 rubles ($9,455) each — paid from a dona- tion made by British street artist Banksy, who learned about the legal charges facing the group via the BBC.
In April, two separate criminal cases against Voina activists — Voro- tnikov and his wife Sokol — were filed after the activists were detained during a protest march to City Hall held on March 31. They were charged with disorderly conduct, using vio- lence against a police officer and in- sulting a police officer. Later, inter- national arrest warrants were issued for the two.
Voina’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze said Tuesday that investigators had not been in touch with the art group, two members of which have been issued with international ar- rest warrants over the new criminal case, Interfax reported. Dinze added that they lacked any evi- dence on the case besides the activ- ists’ claims.
On Tuesday, the human rights as- sociation Agora said in a press release that Dinze had found himself under surveillance.

“I have been constantly and closely watched by two men over the past three days,” he was quoted as saying. “As soon as I cometothecity—Igotoacafé,they go there too. I go to a movie theater, they follow me there.”

Publications: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/voinas-new-year-gift-for-police/450949.html

2011/12/19 7th Berlin Biennale: Newsletter

Human rights activist Pusha (Philip Kostenko) has been on hunger strike since his arrest on December 6, 2011. Activist Victor Demynanenko, also wrongfully arrested, has joined Pusha in his hunger strike. Their demand is to release all activists jailed as a result of the December 4-6 protest rallies.

Pusha leads a column of anarchists on the march of War. Photo: Vladimir Telegin

Pusha was arrested near Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg during a peaceful rally against electoral fraud. He was charged under Article 19.3 (non-compliance with police orders). The case was heard by judge Alexei Kuznetsov, who is notorious among the opposition for accepting false police statements and for handing down harsh punishments.
 
Pusha is currently also facing criminal charges under Articles 214 (vandalism), 318 (using violence against a public official), 319 (insulting a public official).
 
Pusha (Philip Kostenko) is an activist, artist and organizer/participant in numerous protest actions. He is a member of the human rights organization Memorial and is active in the Food Not Bombs movement. Philip, who is an orphan, has faced regular harrassment from the law enforcement because of his protest activity. In 2011 alone, he
was subject to 8 unlawful arrests. Philip was recently forced to abandon his home in St. Petersburg due to repeated searches and physical threats from the police.
 
Voina calls on everyone to help support Philip Kostenko by spreading this information.

Source: http://www.berlinbiennale.de/blog/en/?p=17333

Philip Kostenko in his 10th day of hunger strike

St. Petersburg activist Philip Kostenko, who has been on a hunger strike since December 6th to protest his 15-day jail sentence, was sentenced today to 15 more days in jail.

Philip was initially arrested on December 6th for participating in a peaceful rally against electoral fraud. His first jail term expired yesterday, December 21st. However, instead of being released, he was taken straight to a police station, where he was detained on new charges. The court hearing on those charges was scheduled for today.

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Philip Kostenko

On December 6, 2011 Philip Kostenko, activist of the Russian human rights organization Memorial, began a hunger strike. He was arrested near Gostiny Dvor at the peaceful rally in St. Petersburg against widespread violations in the State Duma elections. He was charged with failure to follow a police officer’s orders (Article 19.3). His case was heard by Judge Alexei Kuznetsov, whom many oppositionists claim is known for accepting false statements from police officers and handing down harsh punishments. Kostenko was sentenced to 15 days in custody.  Another illegally arrested activist Victor Demyanenko joined Kostenko on the hunger strike. They demand

“releasing all protesters who were detained at the peaceful rallies on December 4-6”.

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