The continuation of the case of the discrediting of the Russian army concerning Alexei Moskalev, whose daughter drew an anti-war drawing during an art lesson, as well as the decision of the court to deprive him of parental rights will depend on the alignment of forces in the “highest echelons of power”. Such a review in the RTVI program “What was it?!” Express member of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia Eva Merkacheva. According to her, this is evidenced in particular by the position of the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin, who defended Moskalev.
In April 2022, the daughter of Alexei Moskalev drew an anti-war drawing during a school art class, after which law enforcement became interested in the family. At first, a protocol was drawn up against the man discrediting the army due to comments on social media about the conflict in Ukraine, then he became a defendant in a criminal case for the same charge. Moskalev was placed under house arrest and his daughter was sent to a social rehabilitation centre. On March 28, a court in the Tver region sentenced him to two years in a penal colony. However, in the morning, the man escaped from house arrest. On March 30, Moskalev was arrested in Minsk. According to children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, since May 2022, the Moskalev family has been registered as being in a “socially dangerous situation”, and prevention authorities have taken legal action to restrict parental rights, “because the father has been brought several times to administrative justice, responsibility in the event of poor performance of parental duties.” On April 6, this question will be examined by the court.
“I believe that the alignment of forces and opinions at the highest levels of power regarding this story in general will certainly affect the court’s decision. Only that. And the court is exclusively an executor. It’s my point of view. I do not underestimate the opinion of the court, and moreover the merits of the court in general, and it is clear that it is a question of a third power, but under these conditions, it is in the case, in my firm belief, that the court will not decide. The court will simply do exactly as it is told,” Eva Merkacheva said.
According to her, the HRC and human rights activists “have no reason to doubt” that Moskalev has fulfilled his parental obligations. She said that Moskalev’s daughter had not been to school for some time, which, for example, was pointed out by the children’s ombudsman. However, this was due to a conflict within the class, which, according to Merkacheva, teachers and school psychologists should have resolved instead of calling law enforcement. Being with her father, the HRC member is sure, there are ‘no threats’ to the young girl, but separation from a loved one, especially for a 13-year-old, can negatively affect her psychological state.
“In general, in principle, with such children it is already slowly becoming difficult. And what does she see here?
She observes that for some reason they treat her like this, for some reason the father she loves and who she is sure hasn’t done anything terrible, is put behind bars. And against this background, Masha can do everything.
And who will be to blame for this? I think it was you and me, society and the state that allowed this. Therefore, the most correct and only true option is to combine them. And how ? Believe me, the authorities have the power to make all of this both legal and in the near future. Therefore, I would like to hope. I keep my fists for Masha and her father,” Merkacheva said.
Favorable outcome
According to her, today there is no longer any consensus within the authorities on how to resolve this situation: someone advocates “maximum rigidity so that parents are afraid and tell their children that it is not there’s no need to draw anything.” Others “say it’s crazy and there has to be a balance”. A stark indicator of such uncertainty was the statement of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who came to Moskalev’s defense and called the decision to put him in prison for two years “unjust”.
“All of this, of course, is surreal. Something completely unreal is happening, because it turns out that Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner Cheka, has become the main human rights activist. It just doesn’t fit in my head. And it was kind of a sign for everyone that something up there had shifted in relation to the Moskalev affair. From the start, it was clear that there were different opinions on this issue. Therefore, when we believe that there is a single decision center, we are deeply mistaken. At least that’s how I imagine it. And after Prigozhin’s words, everyone realized that something was wrong, and a different scenario appeared in the Moskalev case, ”she said.
Yes, the girl’s father supported and the New People’s Party, which, as Merkacheva noted, “said that, to put it mildly, it was unhumane.” According to her, the situation itself “looked like savagery from the start”, since a child can only be taken from a parent if he really poses a danger to the child. However, in the case of Moskalev, “there was no such thing”.
“And what they’re trying to bring out now is that once there was something, somewhere it broke the law.
Believe me, it’s so absurd considering what happened. What is happening really looks like madness. And now, taking into account all the events, we can hope for a favorable outcome: we know how to backtrack and we can do it completely “ecologically”.
How is it possible ? The verdict will be canceled, respectively, there will be no reason to keep him in prison. Detention will also not be accepted. And in this case, the child is returned to the father. He will be with her, everything will be fine, ”Merkacheva concluded.
