Court cancels Mariupol Drama Theater graffiti artist's penalties
Viru County Court rejected the police ruling and ordered artist Vovan Kastan to be compensated for his arrest over the Russian word for children ("ДЕТИ") graffiti in front of Narva's obsolete Gerasimov Culture Center. At the same time, the court affirmed the fine for the graffiti at the former Narva tank site, which quoted Russian military blogger's words.
The Viru County Court has canceled the police punishment of Narva artist and activist Vovan Kastan for the inscription of the Russian word for children ("ДЕТИ") in front of the former Gerasimov Culture Center in Narva, RusDelfi writes.
The court also ordered to compensate Kastan for the damage caused by his detention in the amount of €174.90. At the same time, the court upheld the fine for graffiti at the place where the Narva tank was standing.
The inscription "ДЕТИ," repeating the same one near the theater in Mariupol during the attack on it by the Russian army, appeared in Narva on the asphalt in front of the dilapidated Gerasimov Culture Center on the morning of May 8 and was removed by the city authorities the same day. The police detained the artist and initiated a misdemeanor case and issued a fine.
Kastan also admitted to spraying quotes from Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky at the site of the Narva tank. The Russian-language text translates as: "We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone. Everything will be as we like." Tatarsky was one of Russia's best-known military bloggers and a vocal supporter of its war in Ukraine. He was killed in an explosion at a St. Petersburg café on April 2.
Kastan told the news portal Delfi in April that he sprayed the graffiti to discredit the Kremlin and those who support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The court upheld the penalties imposed on the artist in this case.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa
