20 March 2023. Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
The criminal trial of Tomsk musician Anna Chagina on charges of again "discrediting" the Armed Forces resumes on 11 April. She was fined in 2022 for a poster reading "Blessed are the peacemakers". "Many times after [the arrest for the poster], I inwardly turned to these words of Christ and realised that peacemaking begins with what is in a person's heart," Chagina says. In St Petersburg, Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov's trial resumes on 10 April. He says he has been denied medical attention in prison, including from a cardiologist.
The criminal trial has begun in Tomsk of a musician and teacher who allegedly "discredited" the Russian Armed Forces more than once in a year. Anna Chagina appeared in court for the first time on 15 March – her next hearing is due to take place on 11 April. If convicted, she could spend up to three years in prison or have to pay a fine of up to 300,000 Roubles. The court extended the restrictions imposed on her - including a night-time curfew and a ban on using the internet - until 2 September. She has been fitted with an ankle bracelet to monitor her movements.
Chagina's first (administrative) conviction was for displaying a poster reading "Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)" at an anti-war protest in Tomsk in March 2022, just two days after the new offence of "discreditation" came into force.
"Many times after [the arrest for the poster], I inwardly turned to these words of Christ and realised that peacemaking begins with what is in a person's heart," Chagina told Forum 18. "Happiness is when you become one who can reconcile those who are warring. One who has come to terms with oneself, with people, with Life. When you carry light and joy in yourself, which spread to other people".
Investigators subsequently accused Chagina of posting anti-war materials on social media and charged her under Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security", when these take place more than once in twelve months).
Although it remains unclear exactly which posts form the basis of the prosecution, they appear to include texts and videos by religious philosopher Nikolay Karpitsky, who has described wartime life in Ukraine and discussed the Russian invasion from a Christian perspective.
Punishments increased for "fakes" and "discreditation"
On 18 March, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a series of amendments increasing penalties for disseminating "false information" about and repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces (Criminal Code Articles 207.3 and 280.3). The amendments also widen the definition of these offences (and of Administrative Code Article 20.3.3) to include criticism of "volunteer formations, organisations and individuals who assist in the fulfilment of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" (that is, private military outfits such as Wagner).
Under Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1, the maximum prison sentence will be raised from 3 years to 5 years – under Part 2 (the same offence if resulting in "death by negligence", harm to health or property, or mass public disorder), from 5 years to 7 years.
Under Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 1, the maximum prison sentence will be raised from 3 years to 5 years (Part 2 remains unchanged).
The amendments are due to come into force ten days after their official publication on 18 March.
Tomsk: Anna Chagina's trial to resume 11 April
On 15 March, Anna Sergeyevna Chagina (born 29 November 1979) made her first appearance at Soviet District Court in the Siberian city of Tomsk on charges of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces. Judge Roman Zaynulin refused the defence request to lift the restrictions under which she has been living for the last three and half months. He adjourned the trial until 11 April.
Tomsk Region Investigative Committee opened a case in November 2022 against Chagina – a violinist, viola player, and music teacher – under Criminal Code Article 280.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security", when these take place more than once in twelve months). They accused her of posting anti-war materials on her page on the VKontakte social network.
Chagina noted to Forum 18 through friends on 11 March that the criminal case is based on her own texts and comments on VKontakte, as well as commentary from the Telegram channel of the Orthodox philosopher Nikolay Karpitsky: "I don't agree with all the wording in Nikolay's texts, but I published some of his thoughts on my VK page without cuts."
Originally from Tomsk, where he led the Tomsk Regional Anti-Fascist Committee, Karpitsky has lived in Slovyansk in Ukraine since 2014. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, he has written regularly about wartime life in Slovyansk and has discussed the war from a Christian perspective in videos on his YouTube Channel, some of which Chagina also reposted.
(In 2011, Karpitsky acted as an expert witness for the defence when prosecutors in Tomsk attempted to have "The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" - a translation of and commentary on the ancient Sanskrit text by Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness – banned as extremist. Courts in Tomsk refused to uphold the prosecutors' suit.)
Forum 18 wrote to Tomsk Region Investigative Committee to ask why expressing religion-based opposition to the war in Ukraine should be considered "discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces, and on which specific social media posts the case against Chagina was based. "Taking into account the interests of the investigation, it is not possible to answer your request," it responded on 27 February.
A Tomsk court had already handed Chagina a fine of 45,000-Roubles (about three weeks' average local wages) under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 for displaying a poster reading "Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)" at an anti-war protest in Tomsk in March 2022.
"Many times after [the arrest for the poster], I inwardly turned to these words of Christ and realised that peacemaking begins with what is in a person's heart," Chagina told Forum 18. "Happiness is when you become one who can reconcile those who are warring. One who has come to terms with oneself, with people, with Life. When you carry light and joy in yourself, which spread to other people."
In comments to Forum 18, Chagina expressed her sadness at the attitude of some religious organisations to the war.
"From the moment the war began, I actively began to learn what other Christians think about the war, what is happening in different faiths. An unpleasant surprise was that hatred, division, pain and fear, like invisible enemies, come from everywhere. The thought that there are priests who bless people to kill is very hard, unbearably suffocating.
"It is terrible to see that a significant part of the Russian Orthodox Church is captured by idolatry towards the state and the ethnic group, although this did not begin on 24 February [2022], but, alas, has been going on for centuries. But it's even harder for me to understand that among Russian-speaking Protestants there are also those for whom earthly authorities turned out to be more important than the Gospel."
Despite her own opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "I did not remove from my [VKontakte] friends those who support the war", Chagina told Forum 18. "People can be mistaken, and they can repent of their mistakes. Now we can't communicate. But I believe that the veil will fall from many eyes, and I want to be open, waiting for this time to come."
Chagina also noted: "War divides us, draws a fiery line between us. War gives a global reason for despair, despondency and hatred, and instead of repentance, it offers to bury oneself forever in guilt. But war cannot destroy the ability to pray and think. I am very interested in what lies ahead for us: another tragedy of alienation or hope for a radical turn towards a renewed and profound communion among Christians, towards the unity of the Church?"
"For me, the Church is a single universal organism, the totality of all who hope for salvation in Christ. As the Apostle wrote, 'there will no longer be Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman, but all will be one in Christ', all will be one in Love. I rejoice that through the darkness of our mistakes and falls, God, as before, walks with us, comes to us. It is difficult to take the first step towards Love, but this is our responsibility."
Tomsk: Chagina's court-imposed restrictions extended to 2 September
Anna Chagina has been under a court-ordered night-time curfew and bans on sending and receiving correspondence, using the internet, and attending large-scale public events since 1 December 2022, shortly after investigators searched her home. The Federal Penitentiary Service fitted her with an ankle bracelet that monitors her movements.
(Several Jehovah's Witnesses - including Maksim Khalturin in early 2019 - have had ankle bracelets fitted to monitor their movements while they were under criminal investigation.)
At the 15 March 2023 hearing, Judge Zaynulin extended the restrictions on Chagina until 2 September.
"The prosecutor expressed ritual fears that 'the accused may commit a more serious crime of a similar nature', on the basis of which the restrictive measures should be left unchanged", Akt-Produkt, an independent St Petersburg-based record label with which Chagina has collaborated, commented on VKontakte on 16 March. "What kind of 'crime of a similar nature' could be committed [during the curfew] is not clear, and the investigation, which could somehow theoretically be interfered with, has been completed."
Akt-Produkt noted that the judge ignored this argument and the fact that, after Chagina had moved house, the Federal Penitentiary Service in her new district had given her "a faulty device which regularly records phantom 'violations' [of the curfew]".
