Russia: two children were stopped in the street, told a curse lay on their families, led to a secluded place and sent home to fetch their families' money and gold

Proceedings

1. 2019-12-04 · conviction and sentence at first instance

   Zavolzhsky District Court of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia (Заволжский районный суд г. Ярославля). The defendant was convicted of fraud by deception causing significant damage to citizens under part 2 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced to ten months' corrective labour with five per cent of earnings withheld to the state, suspended under article 73 with a six-month probation period. The court found that on 5 July 2017 she approached two minors previously unknown to her and told them 'information not corresponding to reality, that a curse lay on their families', inviting them to go with her to a sparsely populated place located behind two buildings, where she 'performed manipulations supposedly confirming that a curse lay on their families'. She then told the children that 'for the removal of the curse from their families it was necessary for them to hand over to her the money and gold items belonging to their families'. The judgment itemises sums including 25,500 roubles, 5,100 roubles and 250 roubles, and property totalling 35,550 roubles. In defining the term, the judgment describes a curse as 'a superstition, a myth about the possibility of a negative magical influence on the part of ill-wishers, and about the possibility of neutralising such influences'.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• an approach to two children unknown to the defendant, in the street
• the assertion that a curse lay on their families
• removal of the children to a secluded place between buildings
• staged manipulations performed to appear to confirm the curse
• an instruction that the children fetch their families' money and gold for the removal