7 March 2023. Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
RUSSIA: Tomsk musician's criminal trial to begin 15 March
The criminal trial of Tomsk Christian and musician Anna Chagina on charges of repeatedly "discrediting" the Armed Forces is due to begin on 15 March. She is being tried for social media posts opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, having already received a fine in 2022 for her poster at an anti-war protest which read "Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)". Tomsk Region Investigative Committee refused to discuss the case. The criminal trial of St Petersburg Orthodox priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov is due to resume on 10 April.
On 15 March, Judge Roman Zaynulin of Soviet District Court in the Siberian city of Tomsk is due to begin the criminal trial of Anna Chagina, according to the court website. If convicted, the 43-year-old Christian, a musician and teacher, faces a maximum three-year jail term or a large fine on charges of "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces more than once in one year.
Chagina's first (administrative) conviction was for displaying a poster reading "Blessed are the peacemakers" at an anti-war protest in Tomsk in March 2022, just two days after the new offence of "discreditation" came into force (see below).
Investigators subsequently accused Chagina of posting anti-war materials on social media and charged her under Criminal Code Article 280.3 (see below).
Chagina's online posts included reposting an anti-war petition by Russian Orthodox clergy, online debates on the war from a Christian perspective and updates on the criminal prosecution of Orthodox priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov in St Petersburg. It remains unclear exactly which of her social media posts form the basis of the prosecution case (see below).
The Investigative Committee detained Chagina for one day after searching her flat in Tomsk at the end of November 2022. Since then, she has been under specific restrictions, including a ban on using the internet, and latterly a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from discussing the investigation. Witnesses in the case have also had to sign such agreements (see below).
"It was important for me to convey my position to people," Chagina told the Govorit Ne Moskva media project (which specialises in regional stories) through friends in December 2022, before she or they signed the non-disclosure agreements. "I am mentally prepared for the fact that the state will punish me for this. As far as I understand, I face either a prison term or a huge fine. I'm not afraid of either" (see below).
Forum 18 wrote to Tomsk Region Investigative Committee to ask why expressing religion-based opinions on events 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. It added that all information about preliminary investigations that it is legally permissible to make public is published on the Investigative Committee's website. The website has given no information on Chagina's case (see below).
The Investigative Committee has not explained why Chagina and witnesses in the case were required to sign non-disclosure agreements (see below).
Meanwhile, the trial continues at St Petersburg's Kalinin District Court of Orthodox priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov on charges of disseminating "knowingly false information on the use of the Armed Forces". On 6 March, he was brought to court for his latest hearing from St Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison (where he has been held since his arrest in June 2022). The judge adjourned the hearing until 10 April because Kurmoyarov's lawyer Luiza Magomedova was unwell (see below).
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Tomsk: Fine for "Blessed are the peacemakers" poster
Christian Anna Sergeyevna Chagina (born 29 November 1979), a viola player and music teacher from the Siberian city of Tomsk, opposed Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
Her first offence of "discreditation" took place on 6 March 2022 on Novo-Sobornaya Square in central Tomsk, where about 100 people had gathered to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Chagina held a poster she had made: "Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)".
Police detained twenty of the protestors, including Chagina, and charged them under the new Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"), which had entered legal force two days before.
A judge at Tomsk's Soviet District Court convicted her under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 on 12 March 2022 and fined her 45,000 Roubles, about three weeks' average local wages.
"I consider myself innocent of any charges, and no matter how tomorrow's hearing ends, I remain calm," Chagina commented on her VKontakte page on 11 March 2022. "To call for peace, to call for it with all my heart, to call on everyone's open heart, to call for reason, to sow what is good and eternal is my human and professional duty."
"I sincerely believe that what is happening with our planet is in our hands. War starts the moment we forget our responsibility. When we think that 'it will manage itself somehow', 'it will work out', 'it will pass, 'you can wait it out', 'it does not concern me', 'nothing depends on me'."
(Chagina also attended protests against the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, in support of jailed opposition leader Aleksey Navalny in 2021, and against the "partial mobilisation" in September 2022. Before a concert in March 2022, she spoke out against the war on stage and played a Ukrainian song.)
According to Tomsk's Soviet District Court's written decision of 12 March 2022, seen by Forum 18, Chagina "took part in an illegal public event in the form of a rally, the purpose of which .. was to form a negative opinion among bystanders and the population of Tomsk regarding the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".
"Aware that those gathered were united by a single plan to undermine confidence in the decisions of the state authorities of the Russian Federation to conduct a special military operation to save Donbas," the court decision added, Chagina "shouted slogans on the subject of the event, held a poster of a similar content, and, not responding to the explanations of police officers about the illegal purpose of the event or their demand to disperse, thereby committed an administrative offence".
In court, Chagina did not deny holding a poster, but argued that she had been carrying out an individual picket (which is legally permitted without official authorisation). She said in her written statement that she had made the "Blessed are the peacemakers" poster herself and had displayed it in order to "express her civic position".
Chagina appealed unsuccessfully at Tomsk Regional Court on 8 April 2022.
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Tomsk: Criminal case
During 2022, Anna Chagina continued to post material on her page on the VKontakte social media site opposing Russia's war in Ukraine.
On 8 March 2022, Chagina reposted the full text of the anti-war open letter of 1 March 2022, ultimately signed by nearly 300 Russian Orthodox clergy. On 12 May 2022, she wrote that she had herself signed human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov's change.org petition against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Pavel Levushkan is a Lutheran pastor and commentator from Latvia, who is based in Riga but has previously served in Tomsk. Nikolay Karpitsky is a religious philosopher from Tomsk who now lives in Slovyansk in Ukraine. On her VKontakte page, Chagina linked to a YouTube video of the two men discussing the theme of hatred ("How to process your hatred, find cool resolve [obresti kholodnuyu reshimnost] and remain yourself") as part of the series "War from the point of view of religion" on Karpitsky's channel. Chagina also reposted other videos from this series.
Chagina's posts also include supportive comments about other Russians prosecuted for "discrediting" or "disseminating false information" about the Russian Armed Forces, Karpitsky's descriptions of wartime life in Ukraine, comments on the war from the Vatican, and media articles about Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov (currently on trial in St Petersburg for opposing the war – see below).
State media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked Chagina's VKontakte page on 3 September 2022 at the request of the General Prosecutor's Office.
Chagina "considers herself a Christian, is interested in religious philosophy, and insists that Russian Orthodoxy has nothing to do with the Russian Orthodox Church and its support for the war with Ukraine", the media outlet Govorit Ne Moskva (which specialises in regional stories) summarised her position.
In summer 2022, Chagina had begun to notice that she was being followed. After her arrest in autumn 2022, the investigator remarked that all the local police already knew her, Govorit Ne Moskva noted in December 2022.
On 23 November 2022 (according to court documents seen by Forum 18), Tomsk Region Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Chagina.
According to Govorit Ne Moskva, the Investigative Committee's grounds for initiating the case appeared to be some of Chagina's comments on her VKontakte page, as well as her reposting of texts by Pavel Levushkan and Nikolai Karpitsky. It remains unclear exactly which social media posts form the basis of the prosecution case.
The Investigative Committee searched Chagina's home early on 30 November 2022. The investigators "behaved calmly – they did not turn the flat upside down", according to Govorit Ne Moskva, which communicated with Chagina through friends before their non-disclosure agreements. The officers "carefully examined books, sheet music, and musical literature" and confiscated electronic devices.
Investigators detained Chagina for one day after the early-morning search of her home. She has since been at home under a night-time curfew and restrictions on communication.
At her interrogation, Chagina refused to answer questions and stated that she did not plan to plead guilty. The Investigative Committee charged her the same day under Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1.
On 1 December 2022, Tomsk's Soviet District Court upheld the investigators' request to have Chagina placed under specific restrictions. According to the court document, seen by Forum 18, these comprise a 10pm-6am curfew and bans on sending and receiving correspondence ("including letters, telegrams, parcels, and electronic messages"), using the internet, and attending large-scale public events. She was freed from detention in the courtroom.
Forum 18 wrote to the Tomsk Region Investigative Committee to ask why expressing religion-based opinions on events in Ukraine should be considered "discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces, and on which specific social media posts the case was based. The press office first directed Forum 18 to the federal-level Investigative Committee in Moscow, but later stated on 27 February that "Taking into account the interests of the investigation, it is not possible to answer your request". It added that all information about preliminary investigations that it is legally permissible to make public is published on the Investigative Committee's website.
Chagina's case is as yet not mentioned on either the Tomsk Region or the federal Investigative Committee's news pages.
The Investigative Committee has not explained why Chagina and witnesses in the case were required to sign non-disclosure agreements.
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Tomsk: Criminal trial due to begin on 15 March
Anna Chagina is due to appear in court on 15 March on charges of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces. She is the fifth person to face criminal prosecution for opposing the war on the basis of her religious beliefs, and the second to be charged 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").
Soviet District Court in Tomsk registered Chagina's case on 2 March 2023, according to its website, assigning it to Judge Roman Zaynulin. The court has scheduled the first hearing in her trial for 15 March. Investigators have had Chagina and witnesses in the case sign agreements not to disclose any information about the investigation.
"It was important for me to convey my position to people," Chagina told the Govorit Ne Moskva media project through friends in December 2022, before she or they signed the non-disclosure agreements. "I am mentally prepared for the fact that the state will punish me for this. As far as I understand, I face either a prison term or a huge fine. I'm not afraid of either."
If convicted, Chagina could be imprisoned for up to three years or fined up to 300,000 Roubles. Even if she receives a fine, she may not remain undisturbed thereafter, because "she is unlikely to give up on expressing her [anti-war] convictions openly", her acquaintance Maksim Yevstropov (founder of activist art project Party of the Dead) told Govorit Ne Moskva from outside Russia, adding that new charges could be brought for "the slightest reason".
