Law enforcement officer beat Russian funnyman Artemyi Ostanin in Belarus throughout his arrest this week over a viral joke about a disabled guy, a member of Russias presidential human rights council stated Thursday.Russian authorities pressed criminal charges versus Ostanin for inciting hatred after pro-war bloggers took offense at one of his shows in February.
Throughout the stand-up routine, he joked about being run over by a homeless man who had hit a mine and had actually been skateboarding without legs for 20 years in the Moscow metro.Ostanins legal representative, Veronika Polyakova, stated Belarusian law enforcement officers beat him with batons and used stun guns on him in a forest before handing him over to Russian authorities, according to human rights council member Eva Merkacheva.A photo shared by Merkacheva on Telegram revealed Ostanins back covered in swellings and welts from apparent baton strikes.Doctors identified him with a fractured spinal column, breathing and lung problems, as well as multiple swellings and abrasions, Merkacheva stated.
He was also found to have difficulty breathing due to an abnormal collection of air between his lung and chest wall.Despite his injuries, a Moscow court on Tuesday bought Ostanin to remain in pre-trial detention up until May 15.
If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.Ostanin has actually insisted his joke in February was misinterpreted and was not directed at a Ukraine war veteran, as pro-war blog writers had claimed.Russian private investigators at first stated Ostanin had actually upset a Ukraine war veteran but later eliminated any recommendation to military service in their announcement of his arrest.Merkacheva said Ostanin requested an official investigation into the treatment he sustained during his arrest however specified that Russian authorities did not utilize physical force versus him.Hes a Russian citizen, and we need to safeguard his rights that were violated in another state, Merkacheva said.Ostanin is one of just 10 individuals to deal with prosecution exclusively on charges of prompting hatred considering that 2022, when Russia magnified its crackdown on dissent following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the exiled news outlet Agentstvo.