The Zyuzinsky Court of Moscow recognized Alisher Valeev (Morgenstern) guilty of drug propaganda. The rapper will have to pay a fine of 100 thousand rubles, according to TASS. The defense plans to appeal the court’s decision.
What was Morgenstern accused of?
At the end of March, the Safe Internet League appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation-they asked to check the musician’s activities for possible drug propaganda in the children’s environment. Later, the Drug Control Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow opened an administrative case.
The main interest of the police was focused on two songs by Morgenstern-Rose Wine-2 and Family. The texts contain references to narcotic drugs.
Did the rapper plead guilty?
Morgenstern believes that there is no drug propaganda in his songs, and he does not admit guilt. “I am absolutely innocent, and we will prove it today if the trial is fair and fair,” he told reporters before the trial.
According to the musician, the reason for the police’s interest in his activities is popularity. He believes that when a person is in demand and known, everyone wants to “nibble” a piece of his fame.
During the trial, Morgenstern said that he would not “insist on justice”, RIA Novosti reports. At the same time, according to him, in the songs under consideration, the words about drugs are not pronounced by him, but by the rapper Yung Trappa, who recently served time in a penal colony.
“I was judged today for lines I didn’t sing. I was found guilty, and I will pay 100 thousand rubles to the treasury of Russia. Of course, I will appeal, ” the musician said. He noted that the songs themselves are not yet “blocked”.
Why does the defense want to appeal the verdict?
According to the defense representatives, they were denied all the petitions, of which there were about 15. For example, the court refused to question two witnesses:the owner and administrator of the rapper’s YouTube channel. They were also not allowed to attach lawyer interviews of witnesses to the case. The court also refused to appoint a phonoscopic examination(forensic examination of the sound orrecorded speech, which is carried out to identify a person by voice and speech, identify the integrity of the phonogram, etc.).
Valeev’s lawyers believe that they were not given any opportunity to prove the rapper’s innocence. In addition, the court did not give consent to record keeping, video and photo shooting, and the presence of the media at the trial (the latter is due to restrictions due to the pandemic).