Name Alexander Byvshev | ||
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Alexander Byvshev (Russian: Александр Бывшев) is a Russian teacher, and poet from Oryol Oblast. He was convicted in 2015 for writing pro Ukrainian poetry.
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Teaching career
Byvshev taught the German language at a secondary school in the town of Kromy.
Recent controversy
After one of his works was published in VK, his local newspaper Sarya denounced him. In May, 2014 criminal proceedings were initiated against him for extremism. In 2015 he was accused for "incitement to hatred and enmity" and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. His published poem entitled "To Ukrainian patriots" was mainly about the events during the Annexation of Crimea by Russia in which he call Ukrainians - among others - to meet with weapons the mythical "gang of Moscovites". According to officials of the Oryol State University, the poem contains statements which denigrate Russians. Also he wrote poetry in support of the Ukrainian collaborators, who during the Second world war, cooperated with Hitler's troops (Bandera, Shukhevych)
Byvshev was consequently fired and added to a "List of Terrorists and Extremists", the consequences of which included all his bank accounts being frozen. The Sova Centre, a Moscow-based non-profit that monitors nationalism and human rights, described the local media campaign against Byvshev as reminiscent of Stalinist suppression of minorities. The Russian Language Wikipedia deleted its article about him.