According to Russia Today Television (RT) on October 31, a court in St. Petersburg, Russia, released a model who had previously been detained by the police for revealing her clothing and taking pornographic photos of St. Isaac's Cathedral. However, if convicted, the model still faces up to a year in prison.
After about a day in detention, Irina Volkova, 36, was unconditionally released by the court on October 31, local time. The prosecution requested restrictive measures in the preparation of the case, but the court rejected the prosecution's claim on the grounds that it was based on "assumptions".
Image source: Social media
Earlier last week, Volkova shared a photo of herself with about 5,000 of her followers on social media, and the photo went viral, sparking outrage among netizens. The photo and a short video made a year ago show Walkova lifting her skirt to reveal her tattooed buttocks against a backdrop of st. Isaac's Cathedral, a landmark building.
Due to the strong reaction on social media, the Russian police intervened in the matter and triggered a criminal investigation. Volkova was accused of "insulting the feelings of religious believers." Prosecutors cite witness testimony as allegations that the model's bare buttocks insulted Russian authorities, religion, Orthodox Christianity and society at large.
In court, Volkova pleaded guilty and apologized to all those who were insulted for the photos. "I apologize for the pictures I took because it offends the feelings of the believers," she said. Everything will be deleted, and that won't happen again. ”
Previously, Volkova said she was a victim of loan sharking, and because of the outstanding debt, the loan shark deliberately directed the media to pay attention to her controversial photos. Wolkova allegedly owes a microfinance company about 19,000 rubles (about $270).
Bonnie video screenshot
At a time when Volkova is embroiled in legal disputes, Russia has also seen a series of scandals involving cases involving "believer feelings" in recent weeks. Earlier, a Russian pornographic model named Lola Bunny was criminally investigated for filming a video of "bare breasts" outside St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Similar to Volkova, Bonnie claimed to have deliberately leaked the video by a third party that was filmed two or three years ago and she never intended to make it public.
Bobbyev and his girlfriend Image source: Russian media
In addition, an internet celebrity blogger in Tajikistan named Ruslan Bobiev was detained by police for posting an indecent photo of him and his Russian girlfriend taken outside St. Basil's Cathedral on his social media accounts. The two were initially sentenced to 10 days in prison for disobeying police enforcement, and were subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison each on charges of "insulting the feelings of believers." At the end of his imprisonment, Bobyev was deported back to Tajikistan. (Editor: HHJ)