Stand-up comedian flees Russia over religious joke: They would put me in jail – The Independent

Forcomedian Alexander Dolgopolov the hints were far from subtle.

First came news authorities were investigating footage of a stand-up gig the 25-year old gave in St Petersburg last February. Then came online threats about his supposedly sacrilegious comedy. And then, on Wednesday, two state investigators turned up to one of his shows.

That, Mr Dolgopolovsays, was the signal to leave.

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Im an opponent of Putins politics, an atheist and a supporter of minorities, the comedian tells The Independent. I knew that if they got hold of me, they would put me in jail.

Mr Dolgopolov left Russiain haste with his girlfriend the same day. The very next day, he announced his escape to an unspecified country on social media. We have arrived! We are safe for now. Thank you for your support, read one caption on Instagram.

Leaving Russia was a frightening prospect, he recalled: Im still hurting at the fact that I was forced to abandonmy whole life my home, my relationships, friends, my comedy, my followers and my income.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in a judo training session at a sports complex in St Petersburg on 22 December 2010

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Putin holds a tommy gun during a visit to Izhevsk Mechanical Works, a weapons manufacturer in May 2010

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Putin plays with his dogs Buffy (L) and Yume at his residence in Novo-Ogariovo in March 2013

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Putin wears a helmet and the uniform of the Renault Formula One team before driving a F1 race car on a special track in Leningrad region outside St. Petersburg on in November 2010

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Putin sports a pair of goggles during a visit to the Technology Park of the Novosibirsk Academic Town in February 2012

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Putin holds a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva on 26 July 2013

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Putin inspects a horse in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan in March 2010

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Putin looks down the sight of a replica kalashnikov rifle at a target range in Moscow in April 2012

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Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi on 30 August 2015

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Putin drives down a highway in St Petersburg in August 2013

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Putin takes part in a judo training session at the Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, on 22 December 2010.

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Putin speaks with Leonardo DiCaprio on 23 November 2010 after a concert to mark the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg

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Putin holds two ancient amphorae he found while scuba diving in Taman Bay as he visits an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on 10 August 2011

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Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 February 2014

AFP/Getty

Putin rides a train in Moscow on 21 November 2019

Sputnik/AFP/Getty

Putin hunts fish in southern Siberia in August 2017

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Russian President Vladimir Putin plunges into the icy waters of lake Seliger during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Russia's Tver region in January 2018

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Putin measures a dead polar bear on the island Alexandra Land, part of the Franz Josef Land archipalego in the Arctic Ocean in April 2010

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Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil in September 2011

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Putin holds a Bulgarian sheperd dog given to him by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov after their press conference in Sofia on 13 November 2010

AFP/Getty

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in a judo training session at a sports complex in St Petersburg on 22 December 2010

AFP/Getty

Putin holds a tommy gun during a visit to Izhevsk Mechanical Works, a weapons manufacturer in May 2010

AFP/Getty

Putin plays with his dogs Buffy (L) and Yume at his residence in Novo-Ogariovo in March 2013

AFP/Getty

Putin wears a helmet and the uniform of the Renault Formula One team before driving a F1 race car on a special track in Leningrad region outside St. Petersburg on in November 2010

Getty

Putin sports a pair of goggles during a visit to the Technology Park of the Novosibirsk Academic Town in February 2012

Getty

Putin holds a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva on 26 July 2013

AFP/Getty

Putin inspects a horse in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan in March 2010

AFP/Getty

Putin looks down the sight of a replica kalashnikov rifle at a target range in Moscow in April 2012

AFP/Getty

Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi on 30 August 2015

Getty

Putin drives down a highway in St Petersburg in August 2013

AFP/Getty

Putin takes part in a judo training session at the Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, on 22 December 2010.

Getty

Putin speaks with Leonardo DiCaprio on 23 November 2010 after a concert to mark the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg

AFP/Getty

Putin holds two ancient amphorae he found while scuba diving in Taman Bay as he visits an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on 10 August 2011

AFP/Getty

Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 February 2014

AFP/Getty

Putin rides a train in Moscow on 21 November 2019

Sputnik/AFP/Getty

Putin hunts fish in southern Siberia in August 2017

Getty

Russian President Vladimir Putin plunges into the icy waters of lake Seliger during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Russia's Tver region in January 2018

AFP/Getty

Putin measures a dead polar bear on the island Alexandra Land, part of the Franz Josef Land archipalego in the Arctic Ocean in April 2010

Getty

Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil in September 2011

Getty

Putin holds a Bulgarian sheperd dog given to him by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov after their press conference in Sofia on 13 November 2010

AFP/Getty

Mr Dolgopolov said there was no point trying to argue his case in Russias court system.

The judges pass the decisions they are told to pass, he said.The Russian Interior Ministry has since confirmed police have opened an investigation into a possible crime under Russias anti-blasphemy laws.

Behind Mr Dolgopolovs fears is a very sobering reality: over the past decade, the Kremlin has introduced a series of broad-brushed laws that criminalise extremism and the abuse of feelings of religious believers. The measures are largely arbitrary and have been used to clamp down on dissent and inconvenient voices.

The threat of criminal prosecution in Mr Dolgopolovs case is very real, said Samir Gainutdinov, a lawyer working for the Agora advocacy group. Just mentioning Jesus in the same sentence as profanity could serve as a pretext to a charge.

It is not clearexactly which part of Mr Dolgopolovs routine provoked the complaint.Baza, a publicationconsidered close to Russian law enforcement, blamedprofane jokes involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary.In the recording of his February stand-up performance, Mr Dolgopolovcertainly does mix themes ofGod,atheism and profanity often hilariously. But President Putin, his political system and his supporters also come in for particular ribbing. In one section, the comediansuggests Russians would walk into molten lava in their masses if the wise leader Putin told them.

As far as I know it was because of the religious jokes, but I dont exclude there being another reason, Mr Dolgopolovsuggested.

The comedian said he was always conscious of the fact his routine touched on taboo subjects. Indirectly, authorities even made their feelings about him known in one case, police called a venue to warn them not to joke about Putin like that after he had performed there. ButMr Dolgopolov also believed his relative obscurity was insurance against the authorities taking a more active interest.

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If you live in Russia, you live in fear but you get used to it, he said. When I joked about religion and politics, when I supported LGBT+ communities from the stage, sure I was frightened, but I didnt think anything else of it. They havent picked on the small guys before.

That assumption no longer holds. Over the last week, the comedian says he has become the subject ofa campaign of increasing intimidation and pressure,with loyal state media leading the charge.

Imfrightened about my future, he says. Ive been stripped of everything I everhad and all because of a joke.

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Stand-up comedian flees Russia over religious joke: They would put me in jail - The Independent