Authorites Fail To Find Artist Who Amended Mural On Minsk-Moscow ‘Friendship’

The police admitted their feebleness.

The check upon the fact of the edited mural dedicated to the friendship between Minsk and Moscow in the Belarusian capital has been completed. The authorities have found neither grounds to start a criminal case, not the artist himself. However, the police have made administrative charges against two possible participants of the art action.

“In the course of the pre-investigative check, no features of the criminally punished deed were found. Features of an administrative offence were revealed. The materials have been forwarded to the police for the legal assessment and subjecting the individual to administrative responsibility,” — official representative of the administration of the Investigatory Committee in Minsk Aliaksei Klimovich has informed to tut.by.

The Minsk police have also informed to tut.by that the administrative offence records were made with regard to two people under Article 10.9 of the Administrative Code (deliberate destruction or damaging of property). They are facing a fine in the amount of up to 50 base fees (Bn 1150). The police have classified these people as assessorial, while the artist is listed in the case as a non-identified person.

These charges will be considered by the court in the near future, according to official representative of the municipal administration of internal affairs of Minsk city executive committee Aliaksandr Lastouski.

— The materials of the check have been collected and will be sent to the Kastrychnitski district court of Minsk soon.

We remind, Russian artist Artur Kashak presented his mural on one of Minsk multi-storeyed buildings back in June. This became a sort of a gift to the Moscow Day in Minsk. Minsk residents reacted to the mural in different ways back then.

In late October, an unknown artist painted barbed wire over the mural. Later on, he clarified his motives on condition of anonymity through the media:

“I didn’t want to speak about politics or about the Belarus-Russia relations in this work. <…> This action was aimed at showing that if someone wanted to turn the street art into the tool of propaganda and commerce, they should be prepared to pay for that.”

The municipal authorities suggested the author should bring the mural to its initial appearance within a week; otherwise it would be done by the city. This is how it happened in the end — the authorities fixed the mural by themselves and threatened the author with a lawsuit for reimbursement.

In December, the mayor of Minsk Andrei Shorats said the city will charge the costs for correcting the mural, from the graffitist. The official claimed then that the artist’s personality was already identified.