The Tver Court of Moscow sentenced the activist of the party “the Other Russia” Dmitriy Putenikhin, who poured water on the prosecutor of the Manezhnaya case, to seven months of corrective labor. The defendant was released from custody at the courthouse. Sentencing will take effect in 10 days.

Koza, Kasper and Skif Bratok

On October 28th Putenikhin splashed a prosecutor Alexey Smirnov with water near the building of the Tver court, where he was answering questions from the press after deciding in favor of a cruel sentence for those accused in organizing riots on the Manezhnaya Square in December 2010. The defendant fully admitted his guilt and repented. The prosecutor requested a punishment of six months of hard labor for insulting a government official. The sentence was read out by the Judge Sergei Komlev:

“The guilt of public offense has been proven. In view of repentance and the social danger of the offense, as well as an earlier conviction of the accused, he will be sentenced to seven months of hard labor with retaining of 20 percent of his wages.”

The court also decided to destroy the evidence in the case, namely, two bottles of mineral water “Senezhskaya.” The victim prosecutor Smirnov did not attend the hearing and requested a review of the case without him. Lawyer of Putenikhin, Dagir Hasavov, said that he was pleased with the outcome of the process and that his client will not appeal the verdict.

Dmitry Putenikhin (also known by the nickname of Bratok Skif and the pseudonym Matvei Krylov) was taken into custody October 28, 2011. The court sanctioned his arrest for two months, as public prosecutor stated that the defendant “could escape and continue their criminal activities.” Putenikhin kept in jail “Butyrka.” As a result of trial court on Thursday, the time spent in Butyrka will count towards the sentence on a oneday – to – three bases.

Thus, Putenikhin will have to work at the correctional facility for one month. As explained to the BBC by the lawyer of Putenikhin, Dagir Hasavov, the sentence means that Putenikhin will have to pay 20% of his first paycheck to the state. In the near future Dmitry Putenikhin’s lawyer intends to file a lawsuit against a TV show “VID” where, according to him, the convict worked until the day of his arrest. Putenikhin will demand that he be compensated for the moral damages. After completion of the trial on Thursday he said that on the day of his arrest he was fired without explanation. Hasavov added that the broadcaster refused to answer questions and stated that Putenikhin has never worked there. This includes the program “Wait for me” where Dmitry did work, which refused to give him a personal characteristic needed for the trial. The lawyer received a formal response from the television, according to which Putenikhin never entered an employment agreement and thus has no employment records with the “VID”. The reply says that Dmitry had a short term contract with the television company (two months). According to the lawyer this is not true, and Dmitriy’s work records were not released by the TV staff once they found out that the records would be needed for the court. The officials from the TV show “Wait for me,” said to the Russian service of the BBC that Putenikhin did not cooperated with them in any form. The assistant editor of the show, who refused to provide his name or the whereabouts of the editor, said that he didn’t know Dmitriy Putenikhin.

The victim in thhis case, Alexei Smirnov, was a prosecutor of the trial in the Manege Square December 10, 2010, following the murder of a football fan Yegor Sviridov. In this case five people, including three activists of the “Other Russia” Ruslan Khubayev, Igor Berezyuk and Krill Unchuk, were given sentences ranging from two to five and a half years in prison. In protest against the sentence imposed on October 28, 2011, Putenikhin splashed the public prosecutor with mineral water. He was arrested thereafter. The case of Putenikhin was considered without hearing of the witnesses, because the defendant did not deny his guilt. The victim Alexei Smirnov initially claimed that he heard the cry “Death to the prosecutor”. Those present at the scene say that Putenikhin shouted, “Do not forget, never forgive”, which is confirmed in several videos, including those shown on Russian TV channels. Further, Smirnov could not identify Dmitry Putenikhin with certainty and later dropped his allegations. After this charge was reclassified from “threats or violent acts in connection with the administration of justice” to “insulting a government official.” An open letter in support of the arrested “drugorossa” (member of the Other Russia party) was signed by many social and artistic personalities, including Marat Gelman, Artem Troitsky, Dmitry Bykov, Rustem Adagamov and others. On November 27th a rally was held in support Putenikhin on Clean Ponds in Moscow. It was attended by more than a hundred people.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2011/12/111229_putenikhin_verdict.shtml

Political prisoner Skif Bratok

An activist of the opposition party ”The Other Russia” Dmitriy Putenikhin, aka Matvei Krylov, aka Skif Bratok, is being held against the law since October 28th, 2011.  He was arrested for a protest against judicial tyranny.

He was falsely accused and faces two years in prison.

Voina calls on all honest journalists to raise their voices in defense of Dima Putenikhin. We are asking you to repost this and to participate in a common protest against the prosecution of our friend Skif Bratok.

On  December 11th, 2010 more than five thousand young people gathered on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow to demand a thorough investigation of the murder of a fan of the “Spartak” soccer team, E. Sviridov. Three activists of ”the Other Russia” were charged in connection to the riot, along with two more politically unaffiliated persons. The case resulted in prison sentences ranging from 2.5 – 5.5 years. It is widely understood that the charges against the members of “the Other Russia” are politically motivated.

On October 28th, 2011 Alexei Smirnov, a prosecutor in the case of the Manezhnaya Square riots, gave an interview to the press and said he was pleased with the verdict. After that, an activist of an opposition party “the Other Russia” Dmitriy Putenikhin, aka Matvei Krylov, aka Skif Bratok, doused the prosecutor with water, saying: “We will not forget, we will not forgive”. The prosecutor interrupted the interview and went back to the court.



The riot police then proceeded to beat everyone standing in front of the court building, including the journalists. After finishing this so-called “educational process” policemen arrested eleven people. Three people were arrested for “disobeying the police.” Putenikhin was arrested in conjunction with the Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code - disorderly conduct.



On the same day prosecutor Alexei Smirnov filed a complaint to the investigation department of Moscow stating that Putenikhyn committed a crime against him. In a false statement Smirnov reported that the activist of “the Other Russia” threatened his health and shouted “Death to the prosecutor!”. The prosecutor demanded that the investigating committee initiated a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code (the threat of personal injury committed against the prosecutor in connection with legal proceedings), which implies imprisonment for up to two years. These charges were brought against Putenikhyn on the 8th of November.