Lawyers treat accusation of Zhuravel, who burned Koran, of ties with Ukraine as propaganda element

The state prosecution's statements about links of Nikita Zhuravel, a Volgograd resident, with Ukraine have no legal value, since he is charged with a different crime, lawyers have stated, believing that such false accusations are made by the prosecution for propaganda purposes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 29, at the hearing at the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny, the prosecution presented the results of a forensic psychiatric examination, which showed that Zhuravel was mentally healthy and was aware of the crime being committed. At the same time, "according to the investigation, in the backpack seized from Zhuravel, an image of the coat of arms of Ukraine and a sheet of paper with the image of the crossed out letter 'Z' were found."

Even in accordance with modern law enforcement, the possession of the Ukraine's coat of arms and the crossed out letter "Z" is not a criminal offense, says Sergey Davidis, a lawyer and the head of the "Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial" project.

Sergey has noted that "nothing prevents investigators from initiating a new case after the verdict in this case under consideration." "He is a random person, the object of demonstrative reprisals, but he is not an enemy of the state. The reprisals are purely demonstrative," Mr Davidis has stated.

He treats the accusation of violating the right to the freedom of conscience and religion and hooliganism to be "doubtful" and the intent to be "unproven." "It is impossible to qualify an act under two norms at the same time; and this was done to punish more severely and demonstrate the severity of prosecution for encroachment on religious symbols," Sergey Davidis believes.

The persecution for burning down the Koran gave Zhuravel some support in the public space from Russian nationalists, Sergey continued. "There are responses and expressions of indignation in social networks, and, accordingly, in order to discredit him, his links with Ukraine are added," the lawyer has concluded.