By the name of the Technician: what threatens the rapper's fans for drawing on Tsoi's wall

The street art confrontation unfolded in Moscow. Fans of Pasha the Technician dedicated graffiti to the deceased idol, which angered not only the public, but even friends of the rapper. The fact is that unknown people left a drawing on the wall of Tsoi on Arbat. Fans of the Kino group are now trying to restore the sacred place to its former appearance. Read more about the scandal in the Izvestia article.

Graffiti in honor of Pasha the Technician appeared on the wall of Tsoi

Tsoi's wall on Arbat in Moscow is a place of worship with more than 30 years of history. Since 1990, when the leader of the Kino group died, she has kept the memory of the idol of generations in portraits and lines from songs. The other day, they were blocked by a huge inscription "Technician", which unknown people dedicated to rapper Pasha Technician, who died on April 4 in Thailand. The drawing caused a great resonance. Outraged fans of the rock musician's work on April 13 tried to restore the place to its former appearance. The inscriptions "Choi is alive" appeared on top, posters with a portrait of the artist and a provocative gesture, then artists joined in, who began to paint over the graffiti.

— This is an iconic place where people come from all over the country to pay their respects to Choi. And the one who wrote this… I don't have the words. I do not know who Pasha the Technician is. Create your own wall! — Ivan Filatkin, one of the admirers of the Cinema, was indignant in an interview with Izvestia.

— Choi is a very big figure for Russian music. This is vandalism, lawlessness," said Artyom, another fan of the rock musician.

The relatives of Pasha the Technician himself did not appreciate the new "art" either. His friend, pianist Luka Safronov, supported the idea of creating a wall in memory of the rapper, but condemned the choice of location.

— Some fans behave inappropriately and today they overshadow the memory of the great musician Viktor Tsoi. Pavel never considered himself to be Shakespeare's equal. He was a very humble man. Perhaps people have the right to find a place, a haven for his image, to bring flowers there. It is possible to organize a wall, but in a specially designated permitted place. You don't need to use the Kremlin Wall or Viktor Tsoi's wall for this," Luka Safronov said.

The author of the inscription has not been identified, however, presumably, he was caught on surveillance cameras. The footage was taken at night. The recording is dated April 10, the day before the farewell ceremony for Pasha the Technician, which was also not without scandals. At that time, crowds of fans blocked traffic and climbed the fence around the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Lefortovo.

"People who do this, using the name of a musician who has just died, overlap with what was done by the previous generation of fans of another musician — they demonstrate irresponsible immoral behavior,— musician and actor Sergey Bugaev told Izvestia. — But in fact, it is against the background of this outrage that the true essential characteristic of the fact that this is still the wall of Tsoi, the hero who tragically died, leaving behind an unconditional cultural value, is fixed.

What threatens fans of Pasha the Technician for graffiti on Tsoi's wall?

Tsoi's wall is a sacred place for a large number of people. The rockers were also hurt by what happened. The leader of the 7B group, Ivan Demyan, said that those who painted over Tsoi's wall should be held accountable.

"I think they should receive a specific punishment for vandalism," he told Izvestia.

The possibility of verification after the incident is not excluded, says Evgeny Rosenblat, a lawyer at the Moscow bar Association Aronov & Partners, head of the practice of complex litigation.

— Similar acts may formally fall even under criminal liability. There is an article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation called "Vandalism." But, nevertheless, since this is not an official monument, in my opinion, it is quite difficult to talk about criminal liability in this case. Rather, this act may contain the elements of an administrative offense and, in theory, fall under two elements of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation – this is "Minor hooliganism" and "Destruction or damage to someone else's property," the expert told Izvestia.

Possible punishment is administrative arrest or a small fine. However, so far the issue has been solved creatively. During the day, Tsoi's fans painted over the scandalous inscription to the songs of "Cinema".