BFMTH street artist wanted in case of insulting religious feelings

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Street artist BFMTH

Street artist BFMTH from Yekaterinburg, known for his anti-war posters and who left Russia due to fears of criminal prosecution, has been put on the wanted list. He reported this in his Instagram stories.

The artist reported that the case against him was opened under the article on insulting the religious feelings of believers (Part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code). His card was added to the wanted list of the Ministry of Internal Affairs no later than August 5, 2024, writes Mediazona.

The publication, citing BFMTH, reports that the case was initially opened because of the graffiti “Old Orders” on the embankment in Perm. The artist himself wrote on his Instagram that the work was created after reading an article about stopping the adoption of the law on domestic violence. Patriarch Kirill and Vladimir Putin’s spiritual mentor Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) blocked the work on the law.

Later, at least two more works depicting Patriarch Kirill were added to the case – GO(L)D and “Besnovaty”.

In September 2023, BFMTH left Russia for Armenia due to threats from security forces and surveillance, the Spektr publication reported.

According to the publication, in August 2023, the artist was detained by security forces in Moscow. He was charged with disobeying the police, with the report stating that he insulted security forces and resisted arrest. He was later arrested for 15 days. According to BFMTH, he was detained because of anti-war posters posted in several cities in Russia.

The artist also claimed that on the last day of his arrest, he was warned that if he did not leave Russia, he would be in danger. Later, according to the man, he was detained by security forces several times, including under the pretext of an inspection due to suspicion of drug trafficking. During the arrests, the police asked the artist if anyone from Ukraine had contacted him, and also recommended that he leave the city as soon as possible.

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