Russia rules artist who nailed scrotum to Red Square 'committed no crime'

Russia on Wednesday (16/04/2014) closed a case against a performance artist who nailed his scrotum to the cobbles on Red Square because he had not committed any crime, his lawyer said.

Pyotr Pavlensky stripped naked in November and nailed his scrotum into the ground on Red Square, shocking passers-by.

Police eventually prised the artist free and he was later charged with hooliganism, which carries a maximum jail sentence of five years.

"The case of my client has been closed due to the lack of a crime. This was to be expected, because nothing that they were trying to incriminate him with happened," Pavlensky's lawyer Dinar Idrisov told AFP.

A Moscow police spokesman told the state RIA Novosti news agency that an expert report on the performance found "a lack of motive of political, ideological, racist, ethnic or religious hatred or enmity, or a motive of hatred against any social group."

"Considering this, the investigating officer decided to close the case due to the lack of a crime."

The Pussy Riot punks were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison for their "punk prayer" in a Moscow cathedral in 2012. They were released last December under amnesty.

In interviews, Pavlensky said he chose Red Square outside the Kremlin walls for the performance, titled "Fixation," because it symbolises total police control over society. The protest took place on an annual Police Day holiday.

Pavlensky was detained in February for setting fire to tyres in Saint Petersburg in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Kiev and is being investigated for vandalism along with other activists.

He previously sewed his lips shut in protest of arrest of Pussy Riot in June 2012 and last year wrapped barbed wire around his naked body outside the Saint Petersburg legislature to protest against the passing of repressive laws. - AFP