Critic faces jail after calling rock guitarist a 'poodle'

Artemy Troitsky called a guitarist a 'poodle'. Photo / Thinkstock

In his career as Russia's foremost rock music critic, Artemy Troitsky has got used to a turbulent relationship with those in power - grappling with Soviet-era censorship and yet raising funds for Chernobyl victims.

But it is unlikely he imagined he would find himself facing a jail term for calling an allegedly pro-Kremlin guitarist a "poodle".

Troitsky, 55, one of Russia's top cultural commentators, was due in a Moscow court room yesterday charged with criminal slander, which carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment.

The prosecution is one of four court cases being brought against him, which he and supporters say are evidence of a Kremlin-sponsored crackdown on dissent in Russian artistic circles - one of a dwindling number of areas where critics of Moscow's increasingly authoritarian elite openly express discontent with the ruling classes.

Troitsky, who was lauded in the West and at home for his gritty insights into Soviet music, has become increasingly vocal on the environmental and political transgressions of politicians and oligarchs.

But his latest court room adversary comes in the form of a mop-haired former member of Agata Kristi, a gothic rock band, named after Agatha Christie.

Vadim Samoylov, the group's singer and guitarist until it disbanded last year, says he was slandered when Troitsky referred to him in a television documentary as a "trained poodle for Surkov" - a reference to Vladislav Surkov, the influential deputy chief of staff to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a rock music fan who had previously worked with Samoylov on an album.

Samoylov, 46, who sits in the Public Chamber, a consultative body appointed by the Kremlin and legislators to scrutinise new laws, has also begun a separate civil case against Troitsky claiming a million roubles ($45,360).

Troitsky told the Independent: "I am facing up to two years imprisonment for calling a person a 'poodle'.

"It is truly absurd, like something out of Kafka ...

"This is an attack on the freedom to comment and criticise by artists, journalists and others."

In his lawsuit Samoylov claims a "poodle is a dog" and that "dog, when applied to a person, is an insult".

Even an acquittal, or a conviction punished by a fine rather than a term of imprisonment, will not be an end to the troubles of Troitsky, whose case has been highlighted in Britain by the campaign group Index on Censorship.

The critic, who was founding editor of the Russian edition of Playboy in 1995, but who has more recently become an outspoken campaigner on issues such as plans to build a motorway through a forest in the Moscow region, was last month fined 130,000 roubles for describing a policeman as the "worst cop" of the year at a mock awards ceremony.

The police officer has also begun a criminal slander case against Troitsky over criticism of his investigation of a fatal car crash involving a prominent oil executive, whose driver was cleared of blame despite an eyewitness claiming the businessman's car had swerved into oncoming traffic to pass a queue of vehicles.

- INDEPENDENT