Dmitry Chugunov: “If this is an attempt to find a black sheep in a herd of whites, then this is strange, because then all the sheep will turn out to be black”

A year earlier, four activists were severely beaten in St. Petersburg during a rally against driving on sidewalks. In March 2016, their offenders received suspended sentences.

Budget funds, according to Dmitry Chugunov, were spent on the "development of regional divisions." In particular, the purchase of video cameras and consumables for them. A considerable part of the millions, says the head of Stopkham, is spent on printing anti-boorish stickers. In addition, the organization pays for the work of the employees necessary for the functioning: from an accountant to a video editor.

"We don't know what those claims are." - said "MK" the chairman of "Stopkham". According to him, Stopkham learned about the claims of the Ministry of Justice only today, despite the fact that the process began in October 2015. The Ministry of Justice did not notify the organization of any violations, and they were not summoned to court either.

In the unified register of legal entities, opposite the organization, it is written that it ceased operations by a court decision on the basis of Art. 29 of the federal law "On public associations". According to the article, the organization is obliged to inform the Ministry of Justice about the continuation of its activities, publish reports on the use of its property, and, in case of receiving funds from foreign sources, report on their volume. Failure to submit these documents may be a reason for exclusion from the register.

MK has not been able to find a single Stopham financial report since 2013 either on the website of the Ministry of Justice or in the Counterfocus database.

“We have all the reports,” Dmitry Chugunov assured MK. “Whether they were published or not, I won’t lie, I don’t know for sure, but if necessary, we are ready to provide them.” The chairman of "Stopkham" recalled that once a quarter the organization submits a detailed financial report to the grant operator (they are not in the public domain - author). “The grant operator has no complaints, it is strange that the Ministry of Justice has them,” Chugunov said. The only thing that can be counted as foreign funding, he says, is income from advertising on YouTube from StopHam videos. “If this is an attempt to find a black sheep in a herd of whites, then this is strange, because then all the sheep will turn out to be black. A lot of bloggers monetize YouTube,” said Chugunov.

The last presidential grant - 8 million, has not yet been fully spent. "The money will return to the treasury, we can't use funds from blocked accounts," Chugunov said.

According to Chugunov, Stopham will continue its actions, in addition, he will defend the restoration of the legal entity in court, if it does not work out, he will create a new one.

Evgeniy KORCHAGO, lawyer:“Notices of a court session must be sent by the court to the address where the legal entity is registered. It comes to the post office, and the postman puts a notice in the mailbox that you need to come to the post office for this letter. The fact is that if a legal organization does not appear for notification within 7 days, then the legal obligation of the court is still considered fulfilled. In this case, if StopHam does not receive mail notifications at its legal address, then this is its problem, just like any other organization.

Participate in an online survey

Alexander Boglovsky, the head of the press service of the St. Petersburg branch of the movement, agreed to give an interview to the site.

- Let's get straight to the point. There are a lot of articles on the Internet, written by someone on their own guesses. Write all sorts of conspiracy theories that "StopHam" - these are Navalny's followers, Putin's friends, and so on. We would like to know everything directly. The first question that probably interests everyone is: where does the money come from?

Well, regarding the financial issue, I can immediately say that the grants received by the movement in Moscow do not reach us. Only stickers come to us from the capital. We spend money on video equipment partly from our own pockets, partly from the "budget" of the organization. We, as everyone knows, have a channel on Youtube, which brings a small income to the "budget". In a good month it can be 40 thousand rubles. Of this amount, part goes to hosting for our site, part to equipment: all kinds of mounts, lenses, replacement of cameras broken during the raid. Something is paid to the organizers. Another part is spent on advertising in social networks. Of course, this amount is not enough for everything, so you have to spend personal funds. Talk about the fact that we have investors or that we are financed by the Navalny bloc is disinformation. We do not have any investors other than ourselves. Well, we have nothing to do with Navalny.

- What about people? How are volunteers recruited? Who are all these people who go on raids?

We have a VKontakte group and a website where we publish announcements about the raid, indicating the place and time of the meeting. The main requirement for participants is the age of majority. Several organizers and operators from the main backbone that has developed over several years, plus new volunteers who want to take part, go there. The main structure in St. Petersburg consists of about 300 people who take an active civic position. Naturally, everyone does not go on raids at once. Several organized people go there, plus those who voluntarily decided to attend the action from among the new volunteers. Absolutely all those participating in the action are ordinary average people who are tired of rudeness on the roads (parking lots and sidewalks).

- What do you think all this activity is for? What is the main goal of the movement?

We are pursuing two goals, one of which is very difficult to achieve, the second is more simple. The difficult task is re-education. If you look at European countries, parked incorrectly - a huge fine, drove along the sidewalk - deprivation of rights and a fine, did not let a pedestrian pass at the crossing - a fine. That is, the attitude towards boorish behavior is very strict.

Of course, we also provide for fines, but how often have you seen someone fined for not letting a pedestrian pass? Are there many traffic police officers or video recording cameras on the sidewalks and parking lots? By our actions, we are trying to prevent boorish attitude. Directly in the raids, we try to explain to the violators that they are behaving inappropriately. And then, by posting the video for public viewing, we hope that people who have seen everything that is happening will not want to commit such illegal and immoral actions. That is, they will be reeducated, they will change their attitude.

The second goal is somewhat more realistic and feasible. A huge part of our audience is young people who are now either studying in driving schools, or preparing for this, or have already unlearned, but still do not have a conserved understanding of the rules of the road. That is, their attitude to all "minor" violations has not yet developed. And we are trying to influence them, to bring up the culture of driving from the "early years of the motorist." I hope that our videos are able to awaken respect for others in people.

- How did the movement start? Where did it all start?

The founder of the movement is Dmitry Chugunov. One fine day, he was finally tired of seeing rudeness on the streets of Moscow. He designed and printed some "I don't care about anyone, I park where I want" stickers and went "fight" alone. He approached the cars that were obstructing the passage, saying to the drivers something like: "Do you know that you are obstructing the movement of other people? Please repark so that you do not interfere, or I will put this sticker on you."

Often people rearranged their cars, but not without incident. All his actions he filmed and posted on the Internet. Then he found like-minded people, and the StopHam movement was born in Moscow. Then, having seen this movement on the Web, solidarity people from other regions decided to follow the example, and regional Stopham blocs appeared, including here in St. Petersburg.

How is movement and action coordinated?

The venues for the actions are determined mainly by the residents. They send us letters and photographs of violations, we choose the most "evil" places and go there. Directly on the spot, communication with violators is conducted by the organizers. The selection of organizers is carried out very strictly in order to prevent illegal actions on the part of the activists of the movement. Over the course of several raids, we monitor the actions of volunteers and, based on their behavior, we can offer them to become organizers.

The main requirements for the organizer are restraint and culture. Discreet obscene splash is not allowed. The organizer must also be active. A restrained and cultured person, standing indifferently and occupying only the position of an observer, is unlikely to help us as an organizer. Such, of course, are also needed, because all volunteers are our support and insurance, both active and passive. However, you can become an organizer only by taking an active civic position, as well as being able to convey information to anyone, while remaining within the bounds of decency and the law, of course.

- What happens after the action? Do you send footage to the traffic police, do your "clients" pay fines for their offenses?

No, we do not have the authority to collect fines, and we do not send videos to the traffic police. Our task is not to "punish" violators, but to warn. Sometimes, if a traffic police squad goes on a raid with us, fines are issued on the spot, but this does not happen often. Employees cannot go to places where an offense is PROBABLY possible without a special order (special operation). After all, if the offense really happened somewhere, and the traffic police squad is busy with us, then nothing good will come of it. Another question is if unscrupulous drivers decide to inflict some material (breaking cameras, tearing clothes) or, God forbid, physical damage to our activists (fights happen, sometimes activists are "rolled" on the hood). Naturally, we do not leave such actions unpunished, but draw up statements to the police, after which procedural actions and court proceedings follow.

- If things don't go "smooth" and an activist gets injured in a raid, do you provide support? For treatment, for lawyers in court?

Certainly! As much as possible and strength. There were cases, unfortunately, when activists received beatings and fractures. We help with treatment, that is, for example, if you need to put a cast, then we, and I personally, are ready to pay for a light and comfortable cast. Here the principle "with the world on a string" works. We do not force any of the activists to donate money for treatment, everything is voluntary. With courts, the situation is somewhat different. We, of course, did not study to become lawyers, but we are well versed in the legal field and are able to provide legal assistance to our associates ourselves, without resorting to the expensive services of lawyers. Although now I am negotiating with a law firm, which, perhaps, will be able to help us in the future if our forces are not enough.

On the liquidation of the public movement "StopHam" for numerous violations of the law and canceled the decision of a lower instance.

The representative of the Ministry of Justice confirmed that one of the notices of violations committed by the organization was indeed not delivered, but at the same time asked the Supreme Court to leave the decisions of the Moscow City Court unchanged.

Like Gazeta.Ru, its excessive scandalousness could have led to an attempt to eliminate the once pro-Kremlin project. Sources close to the Kremlin noted that StopHam turned out to be a poorly managed project, which received too many complaints.

Chugunov does not exclude this either, according to whom the activists during their raids could have crossed the road to “the wrong people.”

“For six years, we did not make any exceptions for anyone, did not look at either the ranks or the positions,

Chugunov says to Gazeta.Ru. - And they showed these people in situations where they violate, are rude. It worked out to find a formal reason to shut us down, but in the end it only made us stronger. Soon we will receive an international status and open new branches abroad, in addition to those operating in Chisinau and Yerevan.”

The interlocutor noted that the positive decision of the Supreme Court on the appeal did not come as a surprise to them. “The decision of the Moscow City Court did not withstand any criticism from a legal point of view,” Chugunov notes. —

For a very formal violation - a single failure to submit two types of reports - it was decided not to fine, not to suspend activities, but immediately to liquidate. The decision was made in great haste and with a lot of violations.

For example, we received a letter stating that we had to appear at the Moscow City Court on Friday evening, and the meeting was scheduled for Monday morning. That is, we could not physically receive the letter and prepare for the trial. Now we have presented irrefutable evidence of our innocence.”

“In two months there will be a formal decision of the Moscow City Court, where the case has returned, and only then will our account be unblocked for doing business,” he explains. “But this circumstance did not and does not prevent us from continuing our activities: activists take to the streets, which once again proves that we are a non-profit project. Yes, the lack of grants limits our opportunities, prevents us from actively developing, but this will not kill the movement.”

StopHam is a non-profit organization that opposes violations of traffic rules by drivers, in particular driving on pedestrian zones and parking in inappropriate places. Drivers who refuse activists' request to stop violating traffic rules have to tear off large stickers from the windows of the car. Both ordinary drivers and well-known media personalities received stickers with the inscription “I don’t care about everyone, I park where I want” on the glass of a car - activists record all conflicts with violators on video and post them on the Internet.

So, earlier the "Stopkhamovites" were in conflict on the road with the director, the gymnast, the wife of the deputy plenipotentiary of Chechnya under the President of the Russian Federation, with the driver Mikhail Trinoga - the head of the secretariat, and other famous people.

The StopHam project appeared in 2010 with the support of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi. Largely due to this, the initiative of the activists was verbally supported by the then head. At the same time, StopHam was repeatedly criticized for provocation and violation of the law - damage to property. Many "heroes" of the StopHam commercials promised to go to the police with a statement, but in the end they did not do this.

The Moscow City Court liquidated the public organization "Stop Ham". This was done at the request of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for "repeated gross violations of the law." Stop Ham promises to continue its promotions after re-registration.

The Moscow City Court liquidated the Stop Ham public organization, whose activists aggressively fought against illegal parking by sticking stickers on the windshields of violating cars. "Stop Ham" was created by the commissioners of the pro-Kremlin Nashi movement, it was praised by President Vladimir Putin, but in the end the movement was liquidated at the request of the Ministry of Justice for "repeated gross violations." In "Stop Hama" they promise to continue their promotions and re-register, changing the name "two commas".

When and why was Stop Ham created?

Stop Ham is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by commissars of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi. The main goal of "Stop Ham" was the fight against traffic violations: parking in the wrong place, self-capture of urban land for parking, the use of sidewalks for the movement of cars.

In July 2010, the project was presented at the Seliger forum and approved by the then Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rashid Nurgaliyev. He suggested that the activists of the movement “work together with the traffic police so that an employee is assigned to each group.”

In August 2013, Vladimir Putin supported the activists of the movement at Seliger, who said: “You are doing a very important and good deed - you are fighting rudeness.” The president was then presented with a T-shirt with the inscription "Stop Ham".

How Stop Ham activists act

The participants of the project are looking for cars that are parked incorrectly, creating obstacles for others, and if there is a driver in the car, they turn to him with a request to re-park.

In case of refusal or in the absence of the driver, a round sticker with the text “I don’t care about everyone, I park where I want” is glued to the windshield of the car. The process is often accompanied by conflicts with drivers accusing activists of damaging property and fighting.

Activists film their conversations with them on video cameras, after which they mount videos and post them on the Internet: on YouTube, VKontakte and on the Stop Ham website. Videos bring good income to the movement: the service for evaluating the profitability of YouTube channels SocialBlade has calculated that activists can earn up to $ 192 thousand per year on their channel.

In addition, in 2013, within the framework of presidential grants, Stop Ham received 4 million rubles for its activities, in 2014 - 6 million rubles, in 2015 - 8 million rubles.

Legal side of the issue

Most often, drivers accuse Stop Ham activists of illegal video filming (violation of privacy) and damage to property with stickers. However, in accordance with Art. 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the consent of a citizen to the publication of his image is not required if it is obtained when shooting in places open to the general public. Lawyers also note that the sticker cannot be considered damage to property and poorly assess the prospects for bringing activists to administrative responsibility.

In 2015, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice for Moscow applied to the Moscow City Court with a statement on the liquidation of the organization and the exclusion of information about it from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRLE) after the department “revealed repeated gross violations of the law in the activities of the organization.” The court satisfied the demands on October 12, 2015. This decision was not appealed, therefore, in the manner prescribed by law, information about the organization was excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

Loud scandals with Stop Ham activists

The movement became widely known in 2012 after a conflict near the European shopping center in Moscow with the wife of the deputy plenipotentiary of Chechnya under the President of the Russian Federation, Tamerlan Mingaev. The incident ended in a fight involving the official's son, Islam Mingaev, and his friends. Upon the fact of the fight, a case of hooliganism was initiated. After that, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, dismissed the official in connection with the "incorrect behavior of his wife."

On April 18, 2013, the activists asked Margaret Arakelyan, a consultant of the legal department of the Central Election Commission, to remove the car from the pedestrian crossing, but she refused and pointed the car at one of the activists, almost running him over. The next day, the head of the CEC, Vladimir Churov, apologized for the employee's behavior.

On July 8, 2013, Tatyana Smoryakova, wife of Alexander Smoryakov, head of Maryino district council, hit two movement activists who were trying to block her way on the sidewalk. The head of the council came to the place and defended his wife by writing a statement against the activist. The parents of the downed activist who arrived filed a counter application for giving false testimony. The day after the conflict, Alexander Smoryakov resigned.

On February 10, 2015, in St. Petersburg, activists of the movement tried to stop a car driving along the sidewalk. As a result of the brawl, young people were beaten, three were hospitalized with moderate injuries. Two participants in the attack on "Stop Ham" were later sentenced to probation.

One of the latest sensational episodes of Stop Ham’s activity was a brawl between an activist of the movement and Olympic champion in gymnastics Alexei Nemov in February 2016 in Moscow.

Where does Stop Ham work?

There is no exact data on the number of movement activists. According to the leader of Stop Ham, Dmitry Chugunov, there are branches of the organization throughout Russia - in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and other cities.

According to one of the leaders of the Moscow "Stop Ham" Kirill Bunin, the movement holds four actions a week. The backbone of the Moscow "Stop Ham" includes about 40 people. Approximately 60 more people participate in one-time promotions. Since 2014, the Stop Ham branch has been operating in the Crimea.

There are also followers of the movement in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. Their legal status is unknown.

Evgeny Kozichev, Evgeny Fedunenko, Olga Kalinina, Dmitry Shelkovnikov

Recently, there have been a lot of questions about the activities of StopHam, so I decided to collect everything in one place.

1. Is it true that StopHam was banned?

Not really. In Moscow, the Interregional public organization for the promotion of cultural interaction in civil society "Stop Ham" was registered. By a court decision, its activities as an organization were terminated due to the failure to provide annual reports. From a practical point of view, this does not affect anything: firstly, no one bothers to register even tomorrow a new organization called StopHam-2. Secondly, nothing prevents them from continuing to engage in their activities in private, without any organization, as was done from 2010 to 2012 (it was in 2012 that the organization was registered).

2. Is it legal to harass drivers and demand to re-park?

In general, yes, it's legal. And here no objections in the spirit of “you are not the police, you have no right to contact me” do not work. Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for liability for petty hooliganism, namely “violation of public order, expressing clear disrespect for society, accompanied by obscene language in public places, offensive harassment of citizens, as well as destruction or damage to other people's property.” Stopkhamovites do not swear with foul language, and the requirement to comply with the law is clearly not disrespect for society, but quite the opposite. About damage to property will be further.

3. Is it legal to put stickers on the windshield?

No, not legal. In accordance with paragraph 7.3 of the List of malfunctions and conditions under which the operation of vehicles is prohibited, the operation of the vehicle is prohibited if additional items are installed on it or coatings are applied that limit visibility from the driver's seat. Thus, the sticker worsens the consumer properties of the car and makes it impossible to operate it. To restore the consumer properties of the car, its owner must clean the glass. Moreover, if the sticker is held, as they say, on snot, then there are no problems. But if it peels off heavily, then the owner is forced to bear the costs: from the acquisition of some kind of solvent and up to the evacuation of the car to a car wash. These expenses are nothing but losses (in full accordance with paragraph 2 of article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Losses are a special case of harm. Thus, there is damage to other people's property by the Stopkhamovites.

4. What kind of responsibility can stopham people bear for sticking stickers?

In this case, we can consider the issue of three types of liability: civil, administrative and criminal. Civil liability is to compensate for the damages caused. It occurs only at the initiative of the victim (the police will not do anything for you). That is, the victim (the owner of the car) collects evidence of his losses (checks for solvent, rags, tow truck, car wash, etc.), evidence of harm caused by specific persons and files a lawsuit. As a bonus, you can claim compensation for moral damage and compensation for lost profits (for example, you work as a taxi driver and you lost half a day). Some problems will arise with the establishment of the proper defendant: whether it is an organization operating, or just individuals ... And they are not required to show their passport to you. In general, while I am not familiar with cases of filing such claims. Although in general, if there is evidence of what happened, the case is winning.

Administrative responsibility may come under Art. 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (petty hooliganism). To do this, you need to involve the police and do half the work for them (in particular, collect evidence of damage). Responsibility - up to arrest for 15 days. As a bonus, you, as a victim, will have the right to get acquainted with the case materials and find out the passport details of the Stopkhamovites, which will make it easier to file a civil lawsuit. Liability may also arise under Art. 7.17 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to someone else's property). Fine up to 500 rubles.

The most severe liability that can come is criminal. In accordance with Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, intentional destruction or damage to someone else's property, if these acts caused significant damage, is punishable by up to 2 years in prison, and if the act is qualified as committed out of hooligan motives, up to 5 years. The difference with administrative responsibility lies in the need to prove the presence of significant damage (determined taking into account his property status, but not less than 2,500 rubles, which is quite realistic for Moscow, especially if there was an evacuation).

5. Do stopham people have the right to film me and my car?

Yes, they do. There is no prohibition either in the Constitution or in the laws. But there is a nuance (see next question)

6. Do stopham people have the right to publish videos of me and my car on the Internet?

Photos / videos of the car can be published without problems, and excuses like “this is my property, I forbid” will not help. Ownership allows you to use, own and dispose of a thing, but does not allow you to restrict another person from using their camera. As for you personally, Art. 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation "Protection of the image of a citizen". According to this article, as a general rule, the disclosure and further use (not the photography itself, but the disclosure!) of the image of a citizen (including his photographs, as well as video recordings or works of fine art in which he is depicted) is allowed only with the consent of this citizen. That is, you, as a citizen, have the right to prohibit the publication of a video with your participation. However, there are exceptions. Such consent is not required in cases where: 1) the use of the image is carried out in the state, public or other public interests; 2) the image of a citizen was obtained during shooting, which is carried out in places open to the public, except in cases where such an image is the main object of use. Both of these exceptions work to the benefit of stopham players. First, they may indicate that they are using the image in the public interest (fighting crime and gathering evidence). And, by and large, they will be right. Secondly, they may indicate that the image was taken in a public place and you are not the main subject in it. Unfortunately, what is meant by the main object is a highly debatable issue. However, in general, the prospects of winning a lawsuit against the Stophamites for posting a video with your participation without permission are close to zero. Oh, and the most important thing. There is nothing to do with any “right to privacy” and “right to privacy” that the heroes of the commercials operate with. In a public place (on the street) life is public.

7. Do stopkhamovtsy have the right to stand on the sidewalks and slow down cars traveling there?

On the sidewalk, a stopham man is an ordinary pedestrian. He has the right to walk, stand, lie down, etc. On the sidewalks, in some cases, the movement of vehicles is allowed (for example, in the absence of other ways of access), but at the same time, traffic safety must be ensured. At the same time, of course, you need to understand that not always a violation of traffic rules is recognized as an administrative offense. For example, in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation there is a concept of extreme necessity. A driver can go around a traffic jam on the sidewalk, for example, due to the fact that he is taking a person in critical condition to the hospital (not necessarily in an ambulance). It is obvious that in this case it is impossible to interfere with him, because. such "interference" can lead to the death of a person in the future.

8. The stopham man himself jumped on me, it's not my fault. Should I wait for the traffic cops?

Yes, they should. Regardless of whose fault it was, in the event of any damage (yes, at least the shirt is torn) or harm to health (scratches are enough), the incident will be qualified as an accident. Accordingly, for leaving the scene of an accident, the driver faces a penalty in the form of deprivation of the right to drive or arrest.

9. Stopkhamovites claim that I am driving on the sidewalk, but I believe that this is the adjacent territory. Who is right?

Unfortunately, the SDA does not provide a clear answer to this question. In practice, it can be extremely difficult to distinguish a sidewalk from the adjacent territory: sometimes one smoothly flows into the other. To figure it out, you need to request a traffic organization scheme from the mayor's office, but that will be "later", but you need to figure it out now. Perhaps the only thing that can be advised is not to travel to places that are in doubt, especially if pedestrians walk there and there is another way.