20:48, 12 September 2025

The court left the stand-up comedian from Yeysk in pretrial detention

The defense of stand-up comedian Artemy Ostanin asked to soften his preventive measure, but a Moscow court extended his detention.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, Artemy Ostanin was arrested for a joke about a disabled person who allegedly "stepped on a mine." In court, the stand-up comedian from Yeysk stated that he was beaten during his arrest and reported a fractured spine. The article on incitement of hatred or enmity, under which Ostanin is charged (Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), presupposes three to six years in prison. On June 23, human rights activists recognized Ostanin as a political prisoner and called for his release.

A criminal case was opened against stand-up comedian from Yeysk Artemy Ostanin after a performance in which he joked about a disabled person. The investigation saw his words as an insult to a participant in a special operation, but Ostanin himself claims that he joked about a simple beggar. Ostanin was detained while trying to leave Russia. During interrogation, he apologized for his joke about a disabled person without legs. Ostanin filed a statement to the Investigative Committee about the beating by Belarusian security forces, according to a report prepared by the "Caucasian Knot" "The Main Thing About the Beating and Arrest of Comedian Artemy Ostanin".

Artemy Ostanin's arrest has been extended for another 28 days. This decision was made today by the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow, satisfying the investigators' petition.

Ostanin's defense asked to change his preventive measure to a more lenient one, not involving imprisonment, but the court rejected this petition, the Telegram channel of the capital's courts reported.

The press service of the Moscow courts noted that Ostanin was included in the Russian list of terrorists and extremists. The data of the 29-year-old native of Yeysk was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list in June, according to a message from a Telegram bot that tracks updates to the list.

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/415357