Boris Akunin: arrest in absentia, international search, scandal with pranksters

Russian writer Boris Akunin (real name – Grigory Chkhartishvili, recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent, included in the list of terrorists and extremists) put on the international wanted list. This was reported by the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow also arrested Chkhartishvili in absentia for two months. The period of arrest is calculated from the moment of the actual detention of the writer on the territory of Russia or from the moment of his transfer to law enforcement agencies.

The writer was accused of justifying terrorism and disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces

Akunin was charged under Part 2 of Article 205.2 (“Public justification of terrorism”) and paragraph “d” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 (“Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Justice reported that Chkhartishvili “actively spoke out against the special military operation in Ukraine, disseminated false information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” In addition, he allegedly participated in fundraising for Ukrainian troops.

At the end of January, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs put the writer on the wanted list in the country. Shortly before this, it became known about a similar intention on the part of the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR).

The writer was included in the list of terrorists and extremists, and was also recognized as a foreign agent

On December 18, Rosfinmonitoring included the writer in the list of terrorists and extremists. On December 12, the Russian Ministry of Justice recognized him as a foreign agent.

Later, the deputy head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring, German Neglyad, explained that the author was included in such a list automatically, since the system works transparently and “the law is the law.” Neglyad explained that the department does not make independent decisions to expand the list of persons involved in terrorist or extremist activities, but only automatically implements the decisions of the investigative bodies.

The writer found himself at the center of a scandal after a conversation with pranksters

In December, famous prankers Vovan and Lexus (Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov) published a recording of a conversation with Chkhartishvili. They called the writer on behalf of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and asked whether he agreed that the shelling of Crimea and other regions of Russia was justified. Then the writer answered them that “this does not cause protest.”

After this, a number of politicians and social activists criticized Chkhartishvili. In particular, the head of the Federal Project for Security and Anti-Corruption, Vitaly Borodin, called for the author to be checked for calls for terrorist activities and to be recognized as a foreign agent. In addition, the AST publishing house suspended sales of books by the Russian writer.

After the scandal erupted, Akunin himself said goodbye to his Russian readers, noting that he did not intend to leave of his own free will. He refused to comment on the conversation with the pranksters.