He was punished for listening to Putin with pasta in his ear

An elected Russian communist, Mikhail Abdalkin, fined in Russia for listening to President Vladimir Putin with pasta dangling from his ears, is due to be heard again this month on appeal.

The Russian expression “hanging pasta in the ears” means “telling salads”. However, the deputy released, on February 21, a video of what he had seen and heard, pasta to the ears of Putin’s speech. Fined 150,000 rubles (almost 1,600 francs) in March for “insulting” the army and officials, a deputy of the Samara region (Volga) legislature announced Wednesday on social networks that his appeal would be considered. On April 27. He condemned his conviction as “illegal and politically motivated”.

Mikhail Abdalkayne posted a video of his sentencing. When Vladimir Putin invoked NATO and America’s “centuries of colonialism, dictates and hegemony,” he shook his head, a rhetoric routinely used to justify an attack on Ukraine in particular.

Protected by his party

The deputy posted his video on Youtube, Facebook and VKontakte with a comment: “I fully support, I fully agree. Great speech.” The scene drew the ire of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, whose deputy Alexander Kinchtine called on the usually more moderate Russian Communist Party to “put the elected rebel in his place.” But the Communist colleagues defended their comrade.

“Instead of examining the files of murderers, fraudsters and actual thieves of national heritage, they (judges, editor’s note) decided to punish with rubles a man who had a different point of view from the ruling regime.” , the deputy of the Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament), communist Denis Burbionov, condemned in an interview with the Youtube channel Svobodnaïa Pressa.

Michael Abdalkin crowned his profile on VKontakte with a quote from writer Bernard Shaw: “My way of humor is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.”

The text, introduced shortly after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, condemned him under a law that punishes defamation of officials or the Russian military with fines. If reconsidered, he will be jailed. Many dissidents and ordinary citizens have already served long prison sentences for criticizing the attack against Ukraine.

(AFP)Show comments