Sex act simulator released from prison, says rights don’t exist in Ukraine

The 23-year-old blogger and self-described political activist didn’t think prosecutors would charge him for what he describes as, at most, a “victimless” crime.

The act, Volodarsky said, was designed to test the limits of Ukraine’s morality laws.

“It (imitating a sexual act) was not done as an act against something,” said Volodarsky. “I wanted to demonstrate how absurd the (morality) commission is, to find where the crime against morals start.”

Yet the Luhansk native ended up spending one and a half months in pre-trial detention, and later six more months in a correctional center outside Kyiv for what authorities charged was committing “hooliganism organized by a group of people.”

“I didn’t destroy property, I didn’t hit anyone, I was convicted for committing a victimless crime, which can’t be considered hooliganism,” said Volodarsky.

He said the Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gave witness testimony in court that it was a victim and had suffered as a result of Volodarsky’s intercourse simulation, though none of the church’s members were present during the public act. “It’s curious that none of the witnesses in court were near parliament when the act happened,” Volodarsky quipped.

He said he will lodge a complaint with Strasbourg’s European Court of Human Rights for wrongful imprisonment.

“Whatever the aesthetic value of the performance against the Verkhovna Rada, this is not a matter for deprivation of liberty… this cannot be grounds for criminal prosecution,” read a March statement by Stop Censorship, a coalition movement of non-profit groups and journalists.

Since being released Volodarsky can’t help but talk about the numerous human rights violations committed against him and others daily, starting on the first day he was taken into custody in Kyiv’s Pechersk District police station.

“They (the police officers) didn’t know what to do with me,” he said.

He said he was the only one not beaten by police while in custody but was warned that he was “not in Europe.”

Living conditions were appalling in pre-trial detention, Volodarsky recounted. He said there were nearly twice as many inmates as beds, so people had to take turns sleeping. Proper medical care was also not given.

Volodarsky also said he was denied a lawyer of his choosing and that the investigator in his case had demanded at least $7,500 for his release.

Oleksandr Volodarsky

“Constitutional rights do not exist in Ukraine,” complained Volodarsky. “And it could be perilous to demand your rights in prison because you’re at the complete mercy of prison guards and the administration. Ukraine’s justice system doesn’t value human life at all, it doesn’t try to reform criminals, it just tries to separate them from society.”

He said society as a whole is distrustful of government and of itself. Volodarsky said people in Ukraine are disenchanted and have no goals.

He doubts that he will get in legal trouble again, at least purposefully.

“I’m not ready yet to sacrifice my life in this form…I could be more useful on the outside than in prison…plus I’m more careful now, I don’t want to give the authorities a reason for their next repression,” he said.

Asked what was the first thing he did when he got out of prison, Volodarsky said he first blogged, had sex – not just a simulation — and then got drunk. He plans on pursuing a career in journalism and, in addition to his blog, already has an online column in Liviy Bereh, a newspaper that targets eastern Ukrainians.

Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].