Last year, in protest to Russia's anti-blasphemy law that criminalized playing Pokémon GO in church, vlogger Ruslan Sokolovsky filmed himself catching Pokémons in Yekaterinburg’s Church of All Saints, the site where the last Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918, and shared the footage on his YouTube channel:

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The 22-year old was then detained for two months for “inciting hatred” and “insulting religious feelings” after posting the video, and later taken to a pre-trial detention center for breaching the terms of his house arrest after the young man had posted a video on the Internet though he had been banned from using the web and mobile communications. Judgement was passed this Thursday and Sokolovsky was found guilty of all charges.

"In accordance with the expert evaluation, the court found blogger Sokolovsky guilty of inciting hatred, violating religious feelings and illegal possession of special technical means - a pen with a video camera," said judge Yekaterina Shoponyak who granted the prosecutors' wish and gave the vlogger a 3.5-year suspended sentence.

Judge Shoponyak pointed out that the 22-year old video blogger was on trial not only for playing the game in the church but also for posting several videos that offended believers. She listed "mockery of the immaculate conception," ''denial of the existence of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad" and "giving an offensive description of Patriarch Kirill," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the court hearings, Sokolovsky did not deny that he had been the author of these videos but concerning the pen with a camera, he reportedly said that not only was the pen not his, but that it wasn’t a camera at all, but instead just a light bulb.

During the interrogation of eyewitnesses, the blogger apologized to all worshippers who had complained about being offended.

What do you think of this case? Was the verdict fair in finding Sokolovsky guilty who on top of violating the country's anti-blasphemy law, additionally breached the terms of his house arrest? Or is suppressing one's freedom of expression a more serious offense?

SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2

 

[bi388]

Not a bullshit argument, but MLK and Rosa Parks were fighting for a cause that they could win. Fighting with the church is pointless. You can't convince them. It's not that they know they're wrong and just don't want things to change, they just believe you're wrong.

There were plenty of people who didn't believe they were wrong throughout history and they ended up on the wrong side of history because people spoke up. Nothing will change if no one protests. MLK spoke up to people who believed he was wrong and he got jailed for it. This guy is doing the same thing: fighting for a minority being discriminated against. Its like the Master in fallout. He was set in the belief he was right until he was shown why his deep set beliefs were hsrmful.

 

[tatumanu]

Excuse me but after what happened to Pussy Riot this does not shock me at all. It's highly unfair and vengeful his sentence non the less.

 

[x65943]

By the way, in case anyone was curious. The church did not exist at the time that the Romanovs were killed. They were murdered in the basement of a house (which the soviets later demolished). The church was built after the fall of the Soviet Union to commemorate the Imperial family. The location of the altar is supposedly situated exactly where Nicholas II was shot.

 

[SnakeOil992]

He was clearly making a statement. He expected them and wanted them to come after him to bring attention to how fucked this is. How is that retarded? By this logic Rosa Parks and MLK are retarded too.

You don't fight an oppressive government by playing Pokemon inside a church, I am pretty sure of that.

 

[x65943]

You don't fight an oppressive government by playing Pokemon inside a church, I am pretty sure of that.

You don't fight an oppressive government by playing Pokemon inside a church sitting on a bus, I am pretty sure of that.

 

[leonmagnus99]

this is way too harsh :l

 

[bi388]

You don't fight an oppressive government by playing Pokemon inside a church, I am pretty sure of that.

What hes doing is irrelivent. The point is that he is spitting in the face of the oppressive government and encouraging others to follow suit.

 

[Yil]

What hes doing is irrelivent. The point is that he is spitting in the face of the oppressive government and encouraging others to follow suit.

Has There been any rebillion that ended with self-disbanding rather than seazing power after winning?

 

[SnakeOil992]

What hes doing is irrelivent. The point is that he is spitting in the face of the oppressive government and encouraging others to follow suit.

Guess what. No one followed him because his act was pathetic, that's why. Want rights? Go fight for them.

 

[the_randomizer]

It's Russia, what did you expect? They respect freedoms as much as a vegan and vegetarian enjoys enjoys meat. Not the ideal location for human rights IMO.

 

[death360]

Welp thats what happens when you break the law. Although three years would be a bit too much.

 

[rastsan]

Free speech is not about protecting speech you agree with, it is about protecting speech you don't agree with. Speech that everyone agrees with does not need protection.

Yes he did this knowing it was illegal, but this was to challenge the ridiculous law.

If someone offends you, all you have to do is stop listening. It's not like he physically damaged the church, he just spoke his mind and recorded himself. A law that restricts you from voicing your own opinions is an unjust law.

Can these people seriously not stand to have their feefees hurt?

Would you go to a church that allowed someone to break the law in it? That allowed a guy to be disrespectful to his own country? how about this if he didn't like his country that much he should have done the smart thing wait out his sentence and then left. AGIAN I don't see anywhere in this "this is my legal fight I think this law is wrong help me fight it.". I see a guy playing a game in church when he had better options than that. sure he is playing a game... sure I would politely ask the guy to stop playing and or leave, I would even offer to take him somewhere else that that activity would be more acceptable but aiding him breaking a law? NO.
You see the law as ridiculous. I see this as way more than that.
As a conservator (museum conservator) that church is not just a religious site its historical one as well. he is not just being disrespectful to that religion he is being disrespectful to the history that happened in that church. He went out of his way to do this when that same effort could have been better spent on better approaches. Is he putting any effort now into fighting that law? put the link up if he is! is there a petition? is there a protest? is there any activity designed to raise money to fight the law? is there a lawyer or lawyers helping him fight the law? Or is this just some guy getting attention and continuing to be disrespectful to the people he just apologized to by letting that/those video(s) stay up?
his point was made "as part of my apology I am taking the video down. " has that happened?

Its just him playing a video game doesn't cover this. If you think I sound furious its because I am.
I will fully support a thread started to help fight x law in x country but a thread that openly disrespects religion or people no... that should be enough said

 

[Skelletonike]

As a religious person and someone who loves his own country, I find what that guy did rude as hell.

While I am a Christian, I would not do things that would be rude to other religions, nor would I be rude to customs and cultures as a whole.

If you're an atheist, good for you, you're free to believe or not believe in whatever you want, however, that does not give you the right to insult other religions and cultural beliefs, that is exactly what he was doing.

Also, while government and religion are separate, the majority of the population in most western countries is religious. A country's leader cannot do something that would offend that majority.

While I do not agree that he should get jail sentence just for what he did, he should make amends somehow.

 

[duffmmann]

If a place is deemed sacred by any country, just respect it. You may not think the place is anything special, but others understandably do. I'm actually siding with Russia on this one. I feel for the guy, but if you feel weird taking your smartphone out to play Pokemon Go, which I would think most people would inside of a church, then you should probably recognize those weird feelings and not play the game there.

 

[x65943]

Would you go to a church that allowed someone to break the law in it? That allowed a guy to be disrespectful to his own country? how about this if he didn't like his country that much he should have done the smart thing wait out his sentence and then left. AGIAN I don't see anywhere in this "this is my legal fight I think this law is wrong help me fight it.". I see a guy playing a game in church when he had better options than that. sure he is playing a game... sure I would politely ask the guy to stop playing and or leave, I would even offer to take him somewhere else that that activity would be more acceptable but aiding him breaking a law? NO.
You see the law as ridiculous. I see this as way more than that.
As a conservator (museum conservator) that church is not just a religious site its historical one as well. he is not just being disrespectful to that religion he is being disrespectful to the history that happened in that church. He went out of his way to do this when that same effort could have been better spent on better approaches. Is he putting any effort now into fighting that law? put the link up if he is! is there a petition? is there a protest? is there any activity designed to raise money to fight the law? is there a lawyer or lawyers helping him fight the law? Or is this just some guy getting attention and continuing to be disrespectful to the people he just apologized to by letting that/those video(s) stay up?
his point was made "as part of my apology I am taking the video down. " has that happened?

Its just him playing a video game doesn't cover this. If you think I sound furious its because I am.
I will fully support a thread started to help fight x law in x country but a thread that openly disrespects religion or people no... that should be enough said

While I agree that the guy is offending people - the bottom line is that I believe free speech should be protected.

I can understand if you don't believe in the right to free speech (or if you believe in specific limitations of free speech) - after all morals and ethics are relative.

But you should accept that you are not a supporter of free speech (and civil disobedience).

I think you were spot on though when you said the correct solution was asking this guy to leave. Think about this, what is the purpose of imprisonment and jail? It's for a man to pay his dues for the crime he committed - therefore it should be proportional to the crime that he committed and the people that he hurt. But how do you quantize hurting someone else's feelings? If anything the most proportional punishment should be community service. Don't you think a 3.5 year sentence is a bit disproportionate?

 

[bi388]

Has There been any rebillion that ended with self-disbanding rather than seazing power after winning?

Yes.

Guess what. No one followed him because his act was pathetic, that's why. Want rights? Go fight for them.

Not to harp on MLK but I guess hes pathetic too because he protested rather than fighting people lol.

 

[SnakeOil992]

Yes.

Not to harp on MLK but I guess hes pathetic too because he protested rather than fighting people lol.

You literally compare someone who played Pokemon inside a church to someone who actually protested while putting his life on the line. Think before you speak, please.

 

[DjoeN]

I don't agree, but there are laws for a reason.
If i would be playing Pokemon GO in church, i would only get a warning and bad looks from other people in church.
Cities here can have there own laws regarding disturbing the neighbourhood, but those are little fines you have to pay.
Like for example €20 euro for sitting on a public bench on the backrest with your feet on the seating part, €25 for Walking in the grass where it's not allowed
etc... but that all depend on the city you're in and the mood of the police or local politicians

 

[bi388]

You literally compare someone who played Pokemon inside a church to someone who actually protested while putting his life on the line. Think before you speak, please.

Because its comparable lmao. Think before you speak please. They both were being oppressed by unfair governments and decided to speak out by doing what their government told them they arent allowed to. They both were arrested for doing this. MLK faced more violence for sure but that doesnt mean this guy is a pussy. Please just stop trying to insult a guy for speaking out against oppressive leaders.

 

[Vipera]

As a conservator (museum conservator) that church is not just a religious site its historical one as well. he is not just being disrespectful to that religion he is being disrespectful to the history that happened in that church.

It's a Christian church in Russia. What kind of history do you think you would find? As an European, I laugh at that. Being born in a country with double the percentage of Christians as Russia, I laugh even harder.

If you really are a conservator, you should know better that the only thing that should be punishable by law is vandalism. That's the only way you are truly damaging the historical sites, not by playing a game in a church. We heavily criticize Muslims for wanting to impose their ways on people and then we allow such retarded laws to take place. This is not right.