Krasnodar activist suspected of contempt of court

A judge of the Fourth Court of Cassation has drawn attention to the fact that Yana Antonova, a Krasnodar activist, sent a complaint to the court in the envelope, bearing a copy of the painting by a Dutch medieval painter "Skinning a Corrupt Judge". The judge has suggested that in this way Antonova wanted to demonstrate her contempt of the court, and appointed a hearing on this matter.

"The Fourth General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation has suspected me of disrespect because I sent them my complaint against the decision of the Leninsky Court to refuse to invalidate the outcomes of the elections to the Krasnodar City Duma in an envelope with a beautiful painting by the painter David entitled "Skinning a Corrupt Judge", The court demands explanations from me and threatens to hand the envelope over to the preliminary investigation body – to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF)," Yana Antonova has written.

In her comments, she has added that lawyers printed the envelopes in 2018 to send complaints in them to the Krasnodar Territorial Court about the arrest of the lawyer, Mikhail Benyash.

On September 9, 2018, Mikhail Benyash was detained in Krasnodar along with participants in an unsanctioned rally against the pension reform. According to his version, after the detention, he was beaten up, but investigator had refused four times to initiate a criminal case against law enforcers.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 26, 2021 at 10:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.