Why is Kirill Serebryannikov imprisoned? Explaining on the fingers

According to him, the director had an intention to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future. This was possible thanks to a residence permit in the Republic of Latvia and an apartment in Berlin, said the representative of the TFR. The former subordinates of the director are witnesses in the case. According to the investigation, he can influence them, "including threatening them." Thus, the daughter of the accountant Maslyaeva has already been subjected to surveillance and pressure from Serebrennikov's subordinates, the investigator claims.

“The amount of theft in the case will increase. We have not yet completed all the examinations, ”said a member of the investigation team.

At the beginning of the meeting, lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov asked the court to attach to the case file personal guarantees for Serebrennikov, signed by the director of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Foundation Natalia Solzhenitsyna, director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova, general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin, head of the Faith by Many Foundation Nyuta Federmesser, singer other public and cultural figures.

The reply from the investigation that Serebrennikov refused to testify is not entirely correct, the lawyer said. “He was detained early in the morning in St. Petersburg and was taken to Moscow for eight hours. When at 14:00 I arrived at the Investigative Committee and the interrogation began, Serebrennikov only said that he had neither the moral nor the physical strength to read and understand the multi-page accusation, "Kharitonov said and added that, according to Serebrennikov, the accusation it was "incomprehensible" to him. From the new accusation brought against the defendants in the case by the central office of the TFR at the end of July, the mention of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has disappeared, the lawyer said. Earlier the version of the investigation was that the "Seventh Studio" embezzled money for the play and it was not staged. Now the mechanism of embezzlement is not specified in any way: "It is impossible to defend against such an accusation."

“I would like, of course, to be released, because I am not to blame. The charges brought against me seem incredible, absurd, impossible, ”Serebrennikov told the court. - I have no intention of running away: I appeared on any call and told the whole truth - that there was a project "Platform", budget money was spent only on it and I am very proud of it. All people involved in it worked conscientiously. " According to the director, he "never suspected or accused of anything" the employees of the Seventh Studio, who were responsible for the economy.

The accused confirmed that he had asked the investigation to return the seized passport, since he had to go to Germany to stage an opera in Stuttgart. “This only concerned my contractual obligations. I had no intention of hiding, ”he added.

Serebrennikov's defense is ready to pay a bail for him, corresponding to the amount of damage in the case - 68 million rubles, said lawyer Kharitonov. “It is clear that we personally don’t have that kind of money. But I think that if we go outside now, we will quickly collect them, ”the defender said. At his request, directors Andrei Smirnov and Alexei Mizgirev, as well as publisher Irina Prokhorova, were questioned at the trial, who spoke about the personality of Serebrennikov.

Kirill Serebrennikov (Photo: Kardashov Anton / Agency Moscow)

“This case, in my opinion, is absolutely exaggerated. And what the investigator said here does not characterize Serebrennikov, but the work of our Investigative Committee, exclaimed Smirnov. - I have no reason to doubt the professional integrity of Serebrennikov. In general, to see him behind bars and the fact that they brought him here in handcuffs is outrageous. " According to him, just one list of cultural figures who vouched for the director is "enough to understand where truth and goodness are."

“He leads a rather modest life, which is subordinated to one thing - his work. I know Cyril as a very honest person; I myself staged a play at the Gogol Center and I know that the work there is based on full inclusion - emotional, creative. Apart from work, there is nothing else for people there, ”Mizgirev said.

“From my point of view, Serebrennikov is an outstanding director and theatrical figure. And he is, this is an indisputable fact, the pride of our country. His project made Russia the foremost theater power. I can say that this is a crystal-clear person whose purpose in life is creativity. Sorry for the pun, but he is absolutely unmerciful. And I am ready to make any bail so that a really great person does not sit in jail, ”summed up Prokhorova.

The meeting was held to the sound of applause and shouts from Kalanchevskaya Street - hundreds of his supporters came to support the director at the courthouse.

Detention of Serebrennikov

The director was in a hotel in St. Petersburg early in the morning on August 22; he was in the city filming his film about Viktor Tsoi. Serebrennikov was taken to Moscow, where, following an interrogation in the central office of the Investigative Committee, he was charged with organizing fraud.

According to the investigation, in 2011 Serebrennikov came up with and developed a project for the development and popularization of contemporary art "Platform", for which in 2011-2014 the Ministry of Culture allocated more than 214 million rubles. To implement the project, the director created the Seventh Studio ANO. Employees of the company provided the Ministry of Culture with "action plans within the framework of the Platform project, which contained deliberately inaccurate, inflated information about their quantity and cost," drew up false reports, as well as fictitious contracts for work that were not actually carried out, according to the ICR. The investigators were convinced that the budget compensations for these works were transferred to the accounts of one-day firms and cashed out, and then Serebrennikov distributed them among the participants in the scheme.

The Seventh Studio case

The case of fraud with the state subsidy of the Seventh Studio company was initiated back in 2015, but it became known only after, at Serebrennikov's house and at several other addresses. Earlier, the ICR filed charges against the accountant of the Seventh Studio, Nina Maslyaeva, the former director of the Gogol Center, Alexei Malobrodsky, and the ex-general director of the Seventh Studio, Yuri Itin.

Until recently, Serebrennikov remained in the status of a witness along with several other employees of the company, as well as with the former head of the department of state support of the Ministry of Culture, Sophia Apfelbaum. The country's leadership decided to abandon his criminal prosecution, citing sources close to officials and the director himself. However, after searches and interrogation in May, Serebrennikov's passport was seized, he himself said in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

In early August it became known that Maslyaeva. According to the protocol of her interrogation, Itin, Serebrennikov and Malobrodsky created the Seventh Studio ANO "for the implementation of criminal intent." The accountant helped them cash out the subsidy from the state; The defendants in the case disposed of cash at their own discretion, Maslyaeva told the investigation. Earlier, she stated that in total, since 2014, at least 100 million rubles have been withdrawn from the account of the Seventh Studio. in favor of one-day firms. Maslyaeva's daughters, meanwhile, as they assumed, from former colleagues and associates of Serebrennikov.

Initially, certain persons involved in the case were charged with fraud for smaller amounts: they were accused of embezzling 2.3 million rubles allocated for staging the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 2 million rubles, which were not actually carried out.

At the end of June, the investigation of the case was entrusted to the central office of the TFR. On July 25, a new charge was brought against the defendants. In it, the essence of the act imputed to the defendants is not specified, Ksenia Karpinskaya, Malobrodsky's lawyer, explained to reporters. “It just says that they worked at the Seventh Studio and spent government money. How exactly is not specified, ”said the defender.

All tickets for the fairy-tale opera "Hans and Gretel" by Kirill Serebrennikov have been sold out in Stuttgart. But it seems that after the accusations of embezzling 68 million rubles were brought against the famous director, he is also expected in other places. For example, in the Basmanny court of the capital, where on August 23 he will be given a preventive measure.

Judging by the latest events, there is never a lot of smoke without fire. The Seventh Studio case has been heard for several months and for a reason. Kirill Serebrennikov was detained in St. Petersburg, where he worked on the film "Summer", dedicated to Viktor Tsoi. The director was taken to Moscow under escort and, of course, not as a witness.

According to the release on the IC's website, the arrest was made “on suspicion of organizing the theft of at least 68 million rubles allocated in 2011-2014 for the implementation of the Platforma project. In the near future, they intend to bring charges against him and choose a preventive measure.

Scandalous news about the high-profile case of embezzlement of budgetary funds in the Serebrennikov-based Seventh Studio began to arrive in May of this year. First, searches were carried out in the "Gogol Center" and in the director's apartment. Serebrennikov acted exclusively as a witness. According to the power structures, from 2011 to 2014, the leadership of the Seventh Studio non-profit organization used the funds received for other purposes. But everything that happened was a secret for the public with seven seals. There were only exclamations of indignation about the martyrdom of the talented director. A wave of discontent over the arrest of those involved in the activity was gaining momentum.

During the investigation, an apartment in Germany worth 300 thousand euros was found at Serebrennikov's. The property was purchased on May 9, 2012, during the fertile period of financing the "Seventh Studio" by the Ministry of Culture. Schemes have been established for the withdrawal of budgetary funds under fictitious contracts. Alcohol, paper, gift sets were abundantly purchased under left-wing contracts. In fact, no services were received. 160 shell companies were involved in laundering public money. The name of Kirill Serebrennikov in this performance sounded more often and louder than the others. However, in the shadow of the director's fame, several more names faded.

Yuri Itin, a graduate of the theater department of GITIS, former deputy rector for economic affairs, former director of the Seventh Studio, director of the Volkov Theater in Yaroslavl. He was detained as a suspect in the framework of a criminal investigation. Under house arrest. Refuses to testify, referring to the 51st article of the Constitution.

Former accountant of the Seventh Studio Nina Maslyaeva. At the time of her arrest, she worked as the chief accountant of the studio theater at the Nikitsky Gate. She gave testimony in which she stated that Serebrennikov, the former general producer of the Seventh Studio, Alexei Malobrodsky, and Itin, with her help, "cashed money" allocated for theatrical performances. The total damage amounted to 68 million rubles.

Moreover, according to "Spark", a database of legal entities and their founders, over the past five years in the theater under the leadership of Kirill Serebrennikov, a number of tenders worth about 5 million rubles have been won by legal entities founded by Kirill Serebrennikov. While in the budgetary service, the director was engaged in commercial activities, including winning tenders from his own theater through the individual entrepreneur Serebrennikov.

The moral of this fable is this: art is art, but you need to know the measure.

Director Kirill Serebrennikov was detained in the Seventh Studio case - he is accused of embezzling 68 million rubles allocated by the state to support the theatrical project Platform. On August 23, the Basmanny Court of Moscow concluded a world-famous director under house arrest until August 19.

What are they accused of?

Theater and film director, artistic director of the Gogol-Center theater, Kirill Serebrennikov, was detained by officers of the Main Directorate for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia. He is suspected of organizing the theft of at least 68 million rubles allocated in 2011-2014 for the Platform project, according to the website of the Investigative Committee.

The ministry's message states that Serebrennikov's actions fall under part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale).

"The investigation intends to bring charges against Kirill Serebrennikov for committing this crime, and also decide on the choice of a preventive measure," the ICR said in a statement.

The director faces up to ten years in prison.

Where was you detained?

Kirill Serebrennikov was detained in St. Petersburg, where he was working on a new film. The director's lawyer, Dmitry Kharitonov, said that for him this detention was "a complete surprise" - he was also outside Moscow. At the same time, Serebrennikov then said that he would not testify until the arrival of his lawyer. As a result, then the director was taken to the capital, where he declared that he was ready to cooperate with the investigation, and asked to release him.

What did the court decide?

On August 23, the capital's Basmanny court ruled on a measure of restraint for Serebrennikov, who is accused of large-scale fraud. At the same time, the lawyers asked the judge to release the accused on bail of 68 million rubles, which the social activist Irina Prokhorova was ready to pay.

Dozens of Russian cultural figures vouched for the director. In particular, right at the meeting of the Basmanny Court, an appeal by Natalya Solzhenitsyna, the widow of the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, was read out. In her address, she stressed that Serebrennikov had always been distinguished by decency and conscientiousness, which, together with personal qualities, made it possible to achieve high results in work. The writer's widow vouched that Serebrennikov would come to all the necessary investigative actions, as well as court sessions.

Other guarantors were also listed, including director Fyodor Bondarchuk, TV presenter Andrei Malakhov, writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin, singer Philip Kirkorov.

Who else has been detained?

The ex-chief accountant of the organization, Nina Maslyaeva, has already been detained in the Seventh Studio case; General Director Yuri Itin has been placed under house arrest. A month later, in July, Alexei Malobrodsky, former general producer of the Seventh Studio and former director of the Gogol Center, was arrested. He was first accused of embezzling funds (1.3 million rubles) in the preparation of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", but then the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the article "Fraud" against Malobrodsky, Itin and Maslyaeva - we are talking about embezzlement of state support in 2011–2014.

And before that, there were searches at Serebrennikov's?

Yes, May 23rd. As often happens recently, the searches took place early in the morning. Investigators came to the "Gogol Center" and the apartment Kirill Serebrennikov at nine in the morning. Investigators took the phones from the employees of the "Gogol Center" who were in the building, the troupe was not allowed outside, and it was also impossible to get into the theater. An activist reported on searches in the apartment of one of the best and most successful theater directors Olga Romanova on your Facebook page. Journalists and artists immediately flocked to the apartment and the theater. Serebrennikov left the apartment at about 3 pm, when masked men took him out. The director fluently told reporters that the investigators were treating him politely and delicately.

Later it became known that the searches were carried out in a criminal case initiated two years ago. The case was initiated on May 19, 2015. Its materials say that in 2014 the Ministry of Culture of Russia allocated subsidies to the Seventh Studio autonomous non-profit organization (ANO) to support the development and popularization of contemporary art. Kirill Serebrennikov was the artistic director of the Seventh Studio during this period. We are talking about the waste of about 200 million of budget funds. Later, a source in the Investigative Committee told Interfax that Kirill Serebrennikov was a witness in the case. Earlier, deputies Yevgeny Fedorov and Mikhail Degtyarev... Other media outlets reported that the reason for the checks was swearing in performances at the Gogol Center. Several hours after the interrogation, Kirill Serebrennikov was released on the condition that he come to the Investigative Committee at the first request of the investigators.

What is Kirill Serebrennikov known for?

Kirill Serebrennikov headed the Gogol Theater in August 2012. This appointment was made within the framework of the cultural policy of Moscow, pursued by the then head of the Moscow Department of Culture. Sergey Kapkov... During this time, Kirill turned the "Gogol Center" into, perhaps, the best theater in the country, where every performance is sold out. Serebrennikov is one of the most famous Russian directors of the last 20 years. In particular, in addition to working in the theater, he made films. Among the most famous works are "Depicting the Victim", "The Apprentice", shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Note that in the summer of 2017, the Moscow "Helikon-Opera" will host the premiere of the opera "Chaadsky" staged by Kirill Serebrennikov, and the Bolshoi Theater - the ballet "Nureyev" staged by Serebrennikov and Yuri Posokhov. In August, Serebrennikov was going to shoot a film about Viktor Tsoi.

The notorious "Gogol Center" got involved in a story with losses in the amount of 80 million rubles, and in this regard, the theater may be closed in the near future.

Earlier, the new director of the theater announced about the financial difficulties of the Gogol Center Anastasia Golub.

It turned out that under the artistic director of the center - Kirill Serebryannikov - in the theater "There were no deductions to the off-budget fund and taxes for individuals", and there was also a "lack of planned financial economic activities".

Golub said that due to the current situation, she was forced to suspend the conclusion of contracts for new productions, however, the performances announced in the repertoire will go on.

“The repertoire created by the artistic director of the theater Kirill Serebrennikov is in demand by the audience - this is the main indicator of the theater. But the absurdity of the situation is that with such high artistic standards, the economic performance is deplorable.", - she noted.

In general, the Gogol Center is a state budgetary cultural institution of the city of Moscow.

Previously, it was called the Gogol Moscow Drama Theater, but after the unexpected appointment of Serebryannikov in 2012, the theater changed its traditional name to a more “modern” one.

The former head of the Moscow Department of Culture became the beneficiary of the appointment of the controversial director to the post of director of the guest theater. Sergey Kapkov, which is also not surprising: Serebryannikov is considered a friend Ksenia Sobchak(and at this time it was Ksyusha who was "hanging out" with Kapkov).

After that, serious contradictions began within the cultural institution..

The theater troupe rebelled, outraged by the fact that a person who did not even have a higher theatrical education came to the leadership of the theater (Kirill Serebryannikov himself was a "physicist-mathematician" by education, and came to the theater as an "amateur").

"The appointment of Serebrennikov as artistic director, calling for the overthrow of the principles of the Stanislavsky system, which denies the Russian psychological theater, is a powerful impetus to the death of the Russian theater", - said the actors in their open letter.

After the actors' demarche, Serebryannikov simply invited the troupe to “write statements,” and he himself moved abroad during the scandal.

And then it became known about the reformatting of the theater into the "Gogol Center" with three resident troupes, programs of film screenings, concerts, lectures and open discussions. "

In general, in this whole dark story, there may be several "skeletons in the closet".

Kirill Serebryannikov himself is a very freedom-loving figure with very unconventional views on Russian reality.

He has repeatedly become the object of sharp criticism from the cultural and political community, for example, for the use of homosexual images and, in general, excessive enthusiasm for "stage debauchery".

Serebryannikov shares "creative" views Marat Gelman and other popular "gallery owners".

It is not surprising that various rumors circulate around his person, including private accusations of non-traditional sexual orientation. And he himself is a lot to add fuel to the fire: for example, in February 2013, answering a question from The New Times magazine, Serebryannikov openly supported homosexual teenagers.

And it is not surprising that films about history have already been presented at the Gogol Center Pussy Riot or, for example, the scandalous film about LGBT children “Life of Adele”, or they staged performances with “propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia,” as the deputy and tireless fighter against orangeism Yevgeny Fedorov announced about the production of “Thugs”.

Another scandal erupted in 2013, when it became known about Serebrennikov's intention to shoot the film Tchaikovsky according to his own script, where, as you probably already guessed, the great the composer should have been presented precisely from the position of his non-standard sexual orientation.

Serebryannikov even "broke through" funding for Tchaikovsky: the Ministry of Culture allocated 30 million rubles out of the required 240 million rubles to support this project, but due to the outbreak of a scandal, the Cinema Foundation refused to further finance the filming of the film.

Now Serebrennikov is talking about his intentions to seek funds for the project abroad. And I will not be surprised if he finds support there - as you know, there is a special attitude to the PR of famous homosexuals. All the more so if along the way you can kill two birds with one stone - and humiliate the image of the great Russian composer, and once again promote gay propaganda among Russian viewers.

It is possible, by the way, that Kapkov's high-profile resignation was partially related, among other things, to the personnel policy, which he pursued as an official responsible for the capital's culture.

As for Serebrennikov, as practice has shown, his "conceptualism" and passion for LGBT promotion only led the "Gogol Center" to economic default.

Investigative proceedings concerning the financial activities of director Kirill Serebrennikov cause a violent reaction in society

As we remember, it all started with the fact that on May 23, in the capital's theater "Gogol-Center", as well as the house of its artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov, searches were carried out as part of a criminal case on embezzlement of state funds. Then, according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, persons from among the leadership of the non-profit organization "Seventh Studio", which was founded by Serebrennikov, in the period from 2011 to 2014 stole about 200 million rubles, which were allocated by the state for the development and popularization of art.

For the time being, Serebrennikov appeared as a witness. But the ex-general director of the "Seventh Studio" Yuri Itin and the former chief accountant of the company Nina Maslyaeva were detained. The search also took place in the apartment of the director of the RAMT, Sophia Apfelbaum, who from 2012 to 2014 headed the department of state support for art and folk art of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

On August 22, news broke that Serebrennikov himself had been detained. The information of the Investigative Committee on this score was extremely stingy: “The Chief Directorate for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia, on suspicion of organizing the theft of at least 68 million rubles, allocated in 2011-2014 for the implementation of the Platforma project, detained the artistic director of the Moscow theater Gogol Center Kirill Serebrennikov.

As it turned out, the chief accountant of the Seventh Studio, Nina Maslyaeva, said that director Kirill Serebrennikov had instructed her to enter false data in the financial statements. According to her testimony, it was Kirill Serebrennikov and ex-producer of the ANO Alexei Malobrodsky who allegedly developed a plan to steal 68 million and forced Maslyaeva to falsify accounting records. The director was charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum punishment is 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.

Sources say the testimony against Serebrennikov was by no means key. Nevertheless, he also testified against his employees back in May, Interfax reports. It was after this that the chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva, who pleaded guilty, as well as an employee of the accounting department, Tatyana Zhirikova, and other persons, whose details were not disclosed, testified against the director.

The detention of Serebrennikov raised many questions. Rumors about the indicative nature of this process immediately spread in society. Otherwise, why would it have been necessary to detain a person who did not try, for example, to go abroad - and even at night, during a business trip to St. Petersburg.

They immediately started talking about the experimental productions of Serebrennikov that were undesirable to the authorities, as well as about his last year's film "The Apprentice", where religious dogmatists who manipulate others through jagged quotations from the Bible are criticized in an exaggerated form.

In addition, Kirill Serebrennikov is known as a consistent oppositionist. Liberal opposition is by no means alien to him. After the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in August 2008, he expressed a desire to walk around Moscow with a sign "I am Georgian!" Supported the Pussy Riot group. In a 2014 interview, the director called Russia "a country of unabated slavery.", and said that our country "now behaves like a beggar gopnik who has gone mad from grief."

It is impossible not to notice that the campaign against Serebrennikov is taking place against the background of the arrests of several governors and one of the ministers being investigated. This is how our imperfect legislation is arranged that almost everyone in our country can be arrested, and especially those who are forced to engage in commercial activities due to their duty. In order to keep their business afloat in our unstable time, many willy-nilly have to resort to “gray” salary schemes or hire migrant workers. On occasion, all this will certainly be remembered to you in order to pin it to the wall. Especially - if you managed to take money from the state at least once.

Regardless of the fact and the degree of Serebrennikov's guilt, now many fear that the campaign launched against him may serve as a prologue to a whole wave of repressive measures against other cultural figures in Russia.

“The trouble is that Russian legislation has not been worked out in detail,” lawyer Igor Trunov said in an interview with Svobodnaya Pressa. - Therefore, if desired, you can find compromising evidence on almost anyone who works with state money in the field of culture. Laws specifically leave many points to the discretion of law enforcement agencies and the judicial community. This creates a situation in which it is possible to selectively plant the unwanted, and turn a blind eye to the actions of those who are loyal to the authorities. From this point of view, the "Serebrennikov case" can really be a trigger for a campaign to "cleanse the ranks" of cultural figures. "

Sensing this, many representatives of the creative intelligentsia stood up for Kirill Serebrennikov. Back in late May, Yevgeny Mironov sent a letter to Putin asking him to investigate this situation thoroughly and impartially. Among others, the appeal was signed by Igor Kostolevsky, Vladimir Pozner and Konstantin Raikin.

Before the premiere of the film “Gogol. Beginning ”the members of the film crew admitted that they went to the Bassmanny court to the meeting in order to testify their solidarity with the accused. The performer of the role of Gogol, Alexander Petrov, admitted that he recently visited the shooting of the film "Summer" about Viktor Tsoi in St. Petersburg and was amazed at the professionalism and high level of the team's work. And producer Alexander Tsekalo quipped that since in our country Western investments are pouring in like a river, the economy is on the rise, the people are prospering, and the generals are not stealing billions, then it's time to take up culture.

For the sake of fairness, let us note that in the West similar processes against movie stars also take place, but no one calls them "demonstrative." In "Shaggy" 1977, director Roman Polanski was accused in the United States of raping a minor. According to prosecutors, he gave the 13-year-old American woman champagne and drugs, and then persuaded him to have sex. The director was forced to admit his guilt and, within the framework of cooperation with the court, agreed to a psychiatric examination, but then fled to Europe, where he is still hiding from American justice. Recently, a Los Angeles court rejected a request from the victim, who decided to forgive Polanski.

The Italian actress Ornella Muti was sentenced to eight months in prison for not showing up at the Pordenone theater performance without warning, where she was supposed to play the main role, and then, in order not to pay a penalty, presented a fake medical certificate. As a result, for this she, despite her star status, was forced to answer according to the law.

At the moment it is known that the Basmanny Court of Moscow has sent the artistic director of the Gogol Center Kirill Serebrennikov under house arrest until October 19. The defendant was banned from correspondence, telephone conversations, meetings and going out into the street without the permission of the investigator. Serebrennikov's lawyers asked to be allowed to go to work. We will monitor the development of this situation and keep you informed.