It was February 20th. In the administration of the Maloyaroslavetsky district of the Kaluga region, the local head Vyacheslav Parfyonov made a report. At some point, the anthem of the Russian Federation sounded. The whole room stood up. And only the local communist deputy Alexander Lependin remained in prison. First, this information appeared in social networks. Then the head of administration was publicly indignant. And now the police became interested in the behavior of the deputy, which, as they said, revealed the material on the Web and is now conducting an investigation. They can make a procedural decision if they find grounds. The deputy himself explained: he had recently trained his legs, so it was difficult for him to stand.
And here is what Alexander Lependin told Business FM:
“On Sunday, I “scored” my legs in training, it got worse, I couldn’t get up myself. When the memory of the dead soldiers was honored, he tensed up, stood up, leaning on his back (armchair). There was no underlying reason, including political. Just, let’s say, when we fall asleep at the anthem or at some kind of speech, this is normally perceived. Not a single person from the audience pulled up, did not ask if everything was in order, what was the reason, what was it.
Lependin’s opponent, the head of the Parfenov administration, also recalls that the deputy stood up when those present honored the memory of the Russian soldiers who died during the NWO. The official attributes this to the fact that the people’s choice knew that if he did not stand up during the minute of silence, he could be charged with discrediting the Russian army. And this is a criminal article. But for sitting during the playing of the Russian anthem, only administrative responsibility, to which the deputy, according to Vyacheslav Parfyonov, needs to be brought:
“His act is, of course, disrespect for our country. I am sure that the police will collect all the evidence base in order to bring him to administrative responsibility for not getting up. Criminal (responsibility), unfortunately, is not here. But I think – this is my personal opinion as the head of the district administration – that the person did not stand up on purpose. Why did his legs give out? He was running circles in the foyer before my report, but here his legs gave out. Therefore, I believe that he should be brought to administrative responsibility at least.”
The misconduct of a deputy in Russia is regulated by two articles. This is an old presidential decree on the Russian anthem and an article of the administrative code on violation of the procedure for the official use of state symbols of the Russian Federation. The fine for citizens is up to 3,000 rubles, for officials – up to 7,000 rubles, for legal entities – up to 150,000 rubles. But you need to take a closer look to see if someone else violated the law, because there are points that the audience might not have known, says Fedor Trusov, managing partner of the Sokolov, Trusov and Partners law firm:
“In general, you need to take a closer look in the hall, because we have a law on the anthem – by the way, like the law on the national flag – in which everything is regulated in detail. And since 2000, there has been a decree according to which, during the official performance of the national anthem of the Russian Federation, it is heard standing, and men should be without hats. Moreover, if the state flag of the Russian Federation is raised during the performance of the national anthem, those present must turn to face it. Of course, ignorance of the law does not exempt from responsibility, but this is there.
In this regard, another story comes to mind. Back in 2019, during protests in Arkhangelsk against a landfill, one of the activists sang the anthem. And the court fined her for it. That is, the state decided that citizens cannot sing “Russia is our beloved country” under any circumstances. And now it’s better for everyone to know when you can sing, when you can’t, and in which direction you should look. So that later, as deputy Lependin did, he would not sit down at the wrong moment.