Art reproduction on a postal envelope insulted the court of Kuban

Yana Antonova, an activist from Krasnodar, is threatened with sanctions for legislative contempt.  In the correspondence that the woman had with the court, she used a postal envelope with an art reproduction of the ‘Skinning a Corrupt Judge’ painting depicted on it.

The original painting is a diptych completed by Gerard David in 1498.  It is called ‘The Court of Cambyses’, depicting a famous plot described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.  According to the legend, the Persian king punished the corrupt judge Sisamn, ordering to flay his skin.  The story goes that the king ordered to upholster the judge's chair with this skin, and the son of Sisamn Otan was appointed as the new judge.

A reproduction of a part of the diptych, printed on a postal envelope, entered the history of art under the title ‘Skinning a Corrupt Judge’. The moral of the plot of the work of art, which fixes attention to the problem of justice, became the basis for exhibiting the diptych in the courtroom of the city hall of Bruges.

The picture was supposed to remind Dutch judges of the 15th century about the need to remain fair and incorruptible.

In 2016, a reproduction of the same picture was used by the people's representatives in Ukraine, voting on the issue of removing the judges suspected of violating the oath from office.

But why were the judges of the Krasnodar Territory so taken aback by the art reproduction?  As Antonova clarifies, she used the envelope without any hint or subtext.

In 2018, when the lawyer Mikhail Benyash was brought to administrative arrest, his friends and colleagues decided to print a batch of such envelopes in order to send complaints to the regional court in them.  One of the many envelopes was sent to the judges by Antonova.  Earlier, the public activist tried to make them recognize the democratic elections to the city council of the capital of Kuban invalid, but her claim was rejected.  It was the complaint about a rejection that was sent in the ill-fated envelope.

It is curious that the story with a similar envelope several years ago already brought another resident of the Kuban to court.

 As Interfax reported in a publication dated June 5, 2019, creditor Stanislav Golubev sent a letter to Judge Andrei Garbovsky in similar envelope.

The picture attracted the judge's attention so much that  Garbovsky decided to consider the issue of imposing a fine or transferring the case to the investigative authorities.  Golubev apologized in absentia, and his lawyer pointed out that the masterpiece exhibited in the Bruges gallery cannot offend anyone.  As a result, no one was fined, although Golubev was proposed to be prosecuted for copyright infringement on a work of art.

It is not yet clear how the current story with citizen Antonova will end.  In Russia, precedent is not considered a source of law.  The verdict of one judge in 2019 does not mean that a similar decision will be made by another judge.  Moreover, according to Antonova's assurances, published on a social network, she used the same envelopes for three years, and the addressees were not only the courts, but also Krasnodar officials and the State Duma.

Now the judiciary can recognize the actions of the activist not only malicious, but also systematic.

The court is awaiting some explanations from Antonova in order to determine whether she respects the court and whether it is necessary to send a postal envelope to the preliminary investigation authorities.