Boris Vladimirovich Stomakhin (''

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

'': Борис Владимирович Стомахин) (born August 24, 1974 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) is a Russian

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, and editor of "Radical politics" periodical. He was convicted three times for hate speech, incriminating him advocating a dismemberment of the Russian Federation and inciting ethnic and religious hatred, and justification of terrorism. The convictions have been questioned by

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organizations ARTICLE 19,

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

, and

Union of Councils for Soviet Jews Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) is an American non-governmental organization that reports on the human rights conditions in countries throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, exposing hate crimes and assisting comm ...

Journalism and political activism

Stomakhin was a member of

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

Revolutionary Workers Party.Lenin, facsists and sexual minorities freedom
. Later he became a leader of a

political group "Revolutionary Contact Association" (RCA). Since 2000, Boris Stomakhin was an editor of the monthly newspaper "Radical Politics". In addition, he contributed numerous materials to

Kavkaz Center The Kavkaz Center (KC; ) is a privately run website/ portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the site is to report events related to Chechnya and also to "provide ...

, the radical

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

internet agency that promoted the independence of

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and is maintained by Chechen separatists. According to Russian court, Stomakhin called for the violent overthrow of government,Official Court Sentence on Russian language dated 20.11.2006
claimed that Russian troops in Chechnya are "occupiers", compared President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

and

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

., called modern Russia "an

Evil empire An evil empire is a speculative fiction trope in which a major antagonist of the story is a technologically advanced nation, typically ruled by an evil emperor or empress, that aims to control the world or conquer some specific group. They are ...

" that must be destroyed, and considered Shamil Basaev and Salman Raduev as heroes of legitimate Chechen resistance. According to

Valeria Novodvorskaya Valeriya Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya (; 17 May 1950 – 12 July 2014) was a Russian and Soviet dissident,Yakov Krotov Yakov Krotov (born 31 May 1957) is a Russian essayist, historian, radio host and priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In 1977–1989, he worked as a librarian and archivist. From 1990 he is a free-lanced author. He writes about history, Chri ...

, Stomakhin did not actually promote any terrorist activities and became a political prisoner.''Boris Stomakhin:Victim of the Regime or a Terrorist''

Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

Opening of a criminal case against Stomakhin

Attempts to prosecute Stomakhin for

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

were made unsuccessfully in 2000. Successful application to prosecute Stomakhin was made by

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

Communist Party

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

member Viktor Zorkaltsev at the request of another Communist party member Valentina Lavrova.Radical politics and unrestrainted silliness
Valentina Lavrova has acquired a copy of Stomakhin

Radical Politics Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radic ...

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

, while being on

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

Mayakovsky Square Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Russian Futurist mov ...

, in September 2002. Being insulted by the text of periodicals she hasn't rushed immediately to authorities, and began to collect the evidence by visiting public actions of Stomakhin and acquiring new numbers of his periodical. After collecting the evidence she referred not to police or security authorities, but to the member of parliament, Viktor Zorkaltsev. Stomakhin's home was searched in April 2004 and his computers and books were confiscated. Stomakhin fled to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

seeking

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

, which was eventually denied.

Arrest and trial

Having returned to Moscow, Stomakhin was arrested on March 21, 2006. Stomakhin tried to escape during his arrest and fell down from fourth floor of his building, according to his lawyer Alexei Golubev and news reports.Prima News Agency report

/ref>
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>Center of Extremal Journalism article
/ref>

/ref> His spine and bones were broken as a result. Stomakhin was subsequently interrogated. Psychiatry experts at the

Moscow Serbsky Institute The Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry () is a psychiatric hospital and Russia's main center of forensic psychiatry. In the past, the institution was called the Serbsky Institute (). Institute The Institute sta ...

found that Stomakhin was

competent Broad concept article: *Competence (polyseme), capacity or ability to perform effectively Competence or competency may also refer to: *Competence (human resources), ability of a person to do a job properly **Competence-based management, performa ...

to stand trial. He was sentenced to five years of prison for inciting hatred and defamatory statements aimed at groups and persons of particular religious and ethnic background and for promoting violent change of constitutional regime and violation of territorial integrity of Russian Federation (articles 280 and 282 of the Russian Criminal Code). In five years after his arrest on 21 March 2011 Somakhin was released from jail.

Second arrest, new criminal case and conviction

Boris Stomakhin was arrested again at his apartment Nov. 20 2012 and on a charge of violating the "anti-extremist" articles of the Criminal Code (articles 282 and 205 of the Criminal Code). Detention was the anniversary of his conviction in 2006. Court authorized his detention until 9 February 2013. The investigation was opened on July 10, 2012 and, although this was not mentioned anywhere, and Stomakhin summonses for questioning did not get up to the time of his detention. The subject of the charges brought against the 21 November 2012 and served as the signature of three articles Stomakhin published on the Internet, namely, "Do not let another Holocaust" and "Untermensch" (in Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code, "excitement hatred and hostility on grounds of nationality or origin"), and "Mourning" (in Part 1 of the Criminal Code st.205.2, "public justification of terrorism"). In case are other article signed Stomakhin published since 2001 and (also before his first arrest). The investigation Stomakhin refused to give evidence in accordance with Article 51 of the Constitution. The arrest of journalist was condemned by a number of public figures, including historian and sociologist Alec D. Epstein, journalists Daniel Kotsjubinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky, a former member of the Federation Council Alexei Manannikov, the former

Soviet dissidents Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the period from the mid-1960 ...

and political prisoners Adele Naydenovich,

Natalya Gorbanevskaya Natalya Yevgenyevna Gorbanevskaya ( rus, Ната́лья Евге́ньевна Горбане́вская, p=nɐˈtalʲjə jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvnə ɡərbɐˈnʲefskəjə, a=Natal'ya Yevgen'yevna Gorbanyevskaya.ru.vorb.oga; 26 May 1936 – 29 No ...

, Andrey Derevyankin, Paul Lyuzakov, Elena Sannikova,

Alexander Podrabinek Alexander Pinkhosovich Podrabinek (; born 8 August 1953) is a Soviet dissident, journalist and commentator. During the Soviet period he was a human rights activist, being exiled, then imprisoned in a corrective-labour colony, for publication of ...

, and Cyril Podrabinek,

Valeria Novodvorskaya Valeriya Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya (; 17 May 1950 – 12 July 2014) was a Russian and Soviet dissident,Pyotr Verzilov Pyotr Yurievich Verzilov ( rus, Пётр Ю́рьевич Верзилов, p=ˈpʲɵtr vʲɪrˈzʲiləf; born 25 October 1987) is a Russian-Canadian artist and activist who came to prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the band Pussy Rio ...

. A campaign for his release. So, on the actions of the Russian opposition to 2012-2013 s raised banners with the text "Free Boris Stomakhin", his portraits with the inscription "Boris Stomakhin. 5 years in prison" were pasted on the walls Russian embassy in Berlin the night of January 16, 2013 and during the campaign in support of arrested activists of the Russian opposition, more than 100 opposition signed a petition demanding the release Stomakhin. 22 April 2014 Stomakhin was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. 15 July 2014 sentence has been approved by Moscow city court.

Third trial

After the third trial, on April 20, 2015 the sentence was extended to 7 years.Суд приговорил публициста Бориса Стомахина к семи годам заключения
/ref>

European Court of Human Rights decision

In May 2018 the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

found that the Stomakhin’s punishment was not proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued and awarded him EUR 12,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

Release and emigration

In September 2019 Stomakhin was released from imprisonment. In November 2019 he left Russia and asked for asylum in

Commentaries

Support

Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in tackling organized crime, ...

said that "people like Boris are the most dangerous for the Putin's regime that deceived millions of Russians, brought them to their knees and transformed them to slaves". According to priest

Yakov Krotov Yakov Krotov (born 31 May 1957) is a Russian essayist, historian, radio host and priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In 1977–1989, he worked as a librarian and archivist. From 1990 he is a free-lanced author. He writes about history, Chri ...

, "Stomakin made a picture of

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

with

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

? Well, I believe that not only Putin and his generals deserve to wear swastika, but also all Russian civilians who pretend that they know nothing about the genocide of Chechens and discrimination of Georgians in Russia"''Political prisoner Boris Stomakhin'', page 14 Stomakhin was qualified as a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

by the

and as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

in an open letter send to G7 leaders by Russia's human rights activists

Sergei Kovalev Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; ; 2 March 1930 – 9 August 2021) was a Russian human rights activist and politician. During the Soviet period he was a dissident and, after 1975, a political prisoner. Early career and ...

Yelena Bonner Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner (; 15 February 1923 – 18 June 2011) was a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union and wife of the physicist Andrei Sakharov. During her decades as a dissident, Bonner was noted for her characteristic blunt h ...

A group of Russian citizens including

Vladimir Bukovsky Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian Human rights activists, human rights activist and writer. From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, he was a prominent figure in the Soviet dissid ...

condemned the conviction of Stomakhin as prosecution of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

.Open letter in support of Boris Stomakhin
Widow of

Andrei Sakharov Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world. Alt ...

Elena Bonner compared Stomakhin with Soviet dissidents who were prosecuted for their writings by

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

.Letter by Sannikova and Bonner
. Human rights activist

Svetlana Gannushkina Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina (, born 6 March 1942) is a mathematician and human rights activist in Russia who was reported to have been a serious contender for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Gannushkina became well-known in Russia as a human r ...

and politician

Valeria Novodvorskaya Valeriya Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya (; 17 May 1950 – 12 July 2014) was a Russian and Soviet dissident,Conviction of Boris Stomakhin: Opinions (Russian)
- by Anna Karpuk for grani.ru
- by

Valeria Novodvorskaya Valeriya Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya (; 17 May 1950 – 12 July 2014) was a Russian and Soviet dissident,Second-hand fascism
- by

Valeria Novodvorskaya Valeriya Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya (; 17 May 1950 – 12 July 2014) was a Russian and Soviet dissident,kangaroo court Kangaroo court is an informal pejorative term for a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court ma ...

Stomakhin Case
- by Vladimir Abarinov for grani.ru. He claimed that the criminal case against Stomakhin was opened based on solely an article about

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

that was not written by Stomakhin. It was decided by the court that Stomakhin actually copied this article from a

Live Journal LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school ...

entry, as well as other publications of numerous news agencies. The authors of the original work disagree to share their responsibility with Stomakhin citing that he had reproduced their works without permission and distorted the original meaning.

Criticism

M. Smolin from

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

described views of Stomakhin as extremely

Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is the dislike or fear of Russia, Russian people, or Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia. Historically, Russophobia has included state-sponsored and grassroots mistreatment and dis ...

.Komsomolskaya Pravda article
/ref> Critics of the court decision were denounced by publicist . In his article published in ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

'' newspaper after the conviction of Stomakhin"Ловушка-282"
(''Catch 282''), Maxim Sokolov,

23 November 2006 he remarked that Stomakhin's writings were worse than

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

("Against this backdrop, Mein Kampf is a textbook of humanism.") and that the

must be prosecuted according to the article 282 of the Russian criminal code. He cited in support a text written by Boris Stomakhin, that "

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

must be exterminated" by all available means including

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

, because all Russians are collectively responsible for actions of their government with respect to

Chechen people The Chechens ( ; , , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as '' Kisti'' and '' Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. ...

. According to Sokolov, the cited passage made application of the article 282 completely appropriate. Aleksandr Cherkasov of the human rights center

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

stated that they did not consider Stomakhin

, because his writings did call for discrimination and violence. At the same time he described the punishment as excessive, because Stomakhin did not organize any criminal acts.

References

External links

Boris Stomakhin's official web-page
*

dated November 20, 2006
Web site in support of Boris Stomakhin

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061201040753/http://rko.marsho.net/ Revolutionary Contact Association website
Another website of Revolutionary Contact Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stomakhin, Boris Russian political writers Russian activists Russian male journalists Writers from Moscow 1974 births Living people Political repression in Russia Journalists imprisoned in Russia Russian prisoners and detainees Russian opinion journalists European Court of Human Rights cases involving Russia Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine