Prosecution witnesses in the Shchepikhin case came to court with patriotic slogans.

Blogger Areg Shchepikhin called for "beating Chechens and Dagestanis" in his videos, insulting Muslims and Jews, according to prosecution witnesses questioned at the hearing. The witnesses cited their patriotic beliefs, while Shchepikhin identified himself as a candidate for the Russian presidency.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," those involved in the abduction of blogger Areg Shchepikhin at Moscow's Yaroslavsky Station, three of whom presented identification as officers of the Russian National Guard Directorate for Chechnya, have been released on their own recognizance. Shchepikhin himself has been arrested until at least January 22; the final charges against him are three criminal offenses. data-content="(%D0%BE%D0%B1%20%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8%20 %D1%87%D1%83%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%20%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%83%D1%8E%D1%89%D0%B8%D1%85%20(%D1%87%D0 %B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C%201%20%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8%20148%20%D0%A3%D0%9A%20%D0%A0%D0%A 4)%2C%20%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85%20%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%B 2%D0%B0%D1%85%20%D0%BA%20%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D1%83%20(%D1% 87%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C%202%20%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8%20280%20%D0%A3%D0%9A%20%D0%A0% D0%A4)%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F%D1%85%2C%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1% 80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B1%D1%83%D 0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%20%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%20%D0%B 8%D0%BB%D0%B8%20%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B4%D1%8B%2C%20%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B6%D0%B5%20 %D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%20%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0% B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0%20%D0%B3%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BF%D0%BF%D1%8B%20%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%20%D0%B F%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BC%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D 0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%2C%20%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD %D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%BA%20%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B8%20(%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C %202%20%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8%20282%20%D0%A3%D0%9A%20%D0%A0%D0%A4)">1. At the September 8 hearing, the court refused to soften the blogger's pre-trial detention, and he accused investigators of pressuring him by refusing to admit guilt in insulting religious feelings.

Today's court hearing in the case of blogger Areg Shchepikhin was devoted to the presentation of evidence by the prosecution and the questioning of witnesses, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.

The first witness questioned, Tatyana Morozova, expressed surprise before the questioning that she saw Shchepikhin in person in the courtroom. "Oh, he's alive here. I saw him "In the video, I didn't know he was sitting here personally," she noted.

Answering the prosecutor's questions, Morozova said she had seen Shchepikhin's videos in publications on two Telegram channels not owned by the blogger himself. According to the witness, in the video, he called on Armenians and Russians to "beat Chechens and Dagestanis." "We are one people, we don't need unrest. This is unacceptable to me. How can a person call for beatings and killings? This is not normal. We've already experienced this in our time, we don't need it anymore. We don't have a fascist ideology; only fascists can talk like that. Then they'll say that it's okay to do the same to Russians and other nationalities," Morozova said.

Lawyer Oksana Sotnikova, who is representing Shchepikhin's interests by appointment, asked the witness how the defendant behaved in the videos. Morozova emphasized that the blogger's state in the recordings was "excited and provocative." In Morozova's written testimony read out at the hearing, it was noted that Shchepikhin also spoke out against Muslims and Jews.

The next witness, Natalya Kopylova, generally repeated Morozova's testimony. "This comrade defendant, interspersed with (expletives), called for beating up Chechens, Dagestanis, and Armenians," she stated.

According to Kopylova, Shchepikhin also called for "making Putin a nationalist," from which she concluded that "he needs a new Hitler." "This is impossible for a normal person; we have a multinational, multi-confessional country, and there is a Cold War going on, where Russian citizens of different faiths are fighting." nationalities. This is a real betrayal. As a patriot and a Russian in general, I am outraged,” she said.

Areg Shchepikhin, commenting on this testimony, stated that he is a candidate for the presidency of Russia and the videos are part of his election platform.

The third witness, Aydin Guseinov, a native of Derbent, said that Shchepikhin’s video, which he saw on YouTube, “shocked” him. He expressed confidence that “there has never been anything like this (calls for violence on ethnic grounds - note from “Caucasian Knot”) in Russia before.”

According to the witness, in the videos the blogger called for “beating up bearded men” – both Christians and Muslims – and for “destabilizing the center of Moscow.” “If people like him are not stopped now, they will do more. This is "It's not just against Muslims, it's against everyone. This is the first stage of fascism. They want to blow up Russia," Guseinov emphasized, noting that he "considers himself a Russian."

When asked for clarification, the witness explained that he first came across a video of Shchepikhin's abduction at the Yaroslavsky Station—"in which they carried him like a lamb"—and that was how he first learned of the blogger's existence. Guseinov subsequently watched two more videos on YouTube, already filmed by Shchepikhin himself. The defendant responded that he hadn't published anything on YouTube himself, and the service has no right to publish anything without the copyright holder's permission.

Guseinov's written testimony, read out during the investigation, stated that the blogger's words "express a clear sense of disrespect for Muslims and humiliation on the basis of nationality and religion" and "insulted all people, insulted Islam," but at the same time, About the videos the witness watched on Telegram.

The defendant accused the witness of simply signing someone else's text. "These aren't your words, this is a well-choreographed, literate speech; someone wrote it for you and gave it to you," Shchepikhin stated. Guseinov objected, claiming that he writes better texts than he speaks, and with these words, he was released from the courtroom.

The last witness to testify in person in the courtroom was Sergey Gulyaev. He stated that he had seen two of Shchepikhin's videos, although it was later revealed that only one of them was recorded by the blogger himself—the second was a video about his abduction.

Gulyaev, using personal notes, quoted an excerpt from the blogger's speech: "We are making Putin into a Nazi who will hate Muslims and Jews." "Besides "It doesn't cause anything like anger. We are a multinational and multi-confessional country, and the infringement of one nationality is Nazism. We already encountered this in 1917 and 1991, and we see the same thing in Ukraine," Gulyaev emphasized.

Areg Shchepikhin inquired about the witness's work, how he was released from work to go to court, and why he even became a witness. Gulyaev sarcastically asked, "Don't you believe in patriotism?"

The state prosecutor read the remaining witnesses' testimonies. Seven people—Ibragimova, Nuriddinov, Magomedov, Akhmatov, Magomadov, Akhmedov, and Samuraliev—all spoke in virtually identical terms about how Shchepikhin's videos offended them as Muslims. At least two of them became interested in the blogger's activities only afterward. after they saw the video of his abduction.

Testimony was also read out from Nargiz Olimova, the administrator of the hostel in the Federation Tower in Moscow City, where Areg Shchepikhin lived before his arrest. According to Olimova, Shchepikhin told her that he was filming videos. Her testimony intrigued the defendant, who persistently tried to find out how to find the hostel's phone number.

The last testimony to be read out was from Shchepikhin's sister, Potapova, née Oganesyan. She said that the blogger changed his last name from Oganesyan to Shchepikhin after marrying in 2012, taking his wife's last name ("to make it easier to work in government agencies"). He divorced his wife in 2016, but continues to support her and their son. According to Potapova, her brother changed a number of jobs after graduating from university, including He was even a bailiff, and before his arrest, he worked as a speaker at conferences related to entrepreneurship and the IT sector.

His sister claims that Shchepikhin did not suffer from mental illness and was not registered with a drug addiction specialist or psychiatrist. "He has a cheerful character, non-aggressive. He never expressed aggressive ideas," the testimony emphasized. She saw her brother's videos only after his arrest.

After reading the testimony of all the witnesses, the state prosecutor announced that her presentation of evidence was complete. At the request of the defense, the hearing was adjourned until 2:00 PM Moscow time on October 13.

After the hearing, Shchepikhin's lawyer, Oksana Sotnikova, told the "Caucasian Knot" that the next hearing, after the defense presents evidence, would also include oral arguments and she saw no need to file any motions. She expressed the opinion, that the psychiatric examination's conclusion about Shchepikhin's sanity "does not reduce the chances" of a more lenient sentence.

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