Reports | August 19, 2012 11:23

"Kasparov could be sentenced up to five years in jail"

Kasparov trying to escape from the police van

Garry Kasparov could be sentenced up to five years in jail for using violence against a state official, after allegedly biting a policeman's hand. Kasparov himself dismissed the accusation as "drivel". Meanwhile, the 13th World Champion has given an interview and written an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. We give an update to the Kasparov arrest story, including video footage on YouTube. 

One aspect of the arrest of Garry Kasparov last Friday that struck us was the huge amount of photo, video and phone cameras in the hands of protesters and journalists in the Moscow streets. Therefore it was no surprise to see more and more videos appearing on YouTube. In the following video (we start it from 0:48) you can see the confirmation of what was claimed by Kasparov's supporters: that he was not protesting, but quietly giving an interview.

While he is being dragged to a minibus, Kasparov asks repeatedly, "What are you doing? What are you detaining me for?"

The video is not a single shot, though - it was edited at some point. At 01:56, when Kasparov is about to be thrown into the minibus, a new clip starts. It seems like Kasparov is screeming while he is taken into the bus, but as the following video shows, this part is in fact from a later moment. As it turns out, Kasparov actually tried to escape from the bus. The following video (we start it from 01:39) shows this: 

The YouTube videos strongly suggest that indeed there has been some fighting going on inside the bus. As we noted last Friday, the police are pursuing a charge that Kasparov bit one of their officers. On his Facebook page it could be read that

he has more protocol to go through tonight with his attorney and must return to the police next week.

Kasparov could be sentenced a five year jail term. Here's how The Telegraph put it:

Police sources told Russian media that Mr Kasparov, who claims he was talking quietly to journalists when he was arrested, could be charged with using violence against a state official, a criminal indictment that carries a maximum custodial sentence of five years, after allegedly biting a policeman's hand. Mr Kasparov dismissed the accusation as "drivel".

Kasparov suggested that it could have been a police dog that bit the cop. In response, the police said they were ready to "carry out a test comparing a police dog's bite to Kasparov's teeth" in order to prove the alleged assault.

Shortly after his release, Kasparov gave an interview to Eli Lake of The Daily Beast. He said he was punched in the genitals and beaten by several police officers.

I remember one strong hit between the legs, then they tried to bring me in the bus, and they started carrying me and beating me. When that happens, you resist. They were trying to break my leg.

In the interview Kasparov does not mention that he tried to escape from the minibus.

The 13th World Champion also wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. Here's a paragraph:

My bruises will heal long before the members of Pussy Riot are free to see their young children again. In the past, Mr. Putin's critics and enemies have been jailed on a wide variety of spurious criminal charges, from fraud to terrorism.


Taking into account the fact that Kasparov resisted being arrested and even tried to escape, who knows what he'll be charged of when he faces the police again next week.

Peter Doggers's picture
Author: Peter Doggers



AL's picture

god save Kasparov

unknown's picture

Russia is sick country...

Anonymous's picture

Correct...And it was only a matter of time before the State struck out at Gary...he's extraordinarily brave opposing tyranny from within the belly of the beast....

Arne Moll's picture

Crazy country. Let's just hope something good comes of this, somehow.

KingTal's picture

I predict Kasparov not to be arrested for 5 years, but he has what he seeked, full attention.

Anthony Migchels's picture

This certainly is bad news for Kasparov. Of course it's completely understandable resisting being manhandled by state maffia thugs, be they russian or western.

There was a fight. There is also a bite: kasparov admits to that indirectly by saying it may a be dogbite. I don't care, there were four big men messing him up, these pigs like their state 'monopoly' on violence and they like to bring people down, that's why they work for the state.

So now Putin has got something on him. On the other hand: he may not want to press kasparov to hard on a small thing, it could blow up in his face.

Anthony Migchels's picture

By the way: I do wonder why people are so adament russia is 'dictatorship'.

Even Kasparov says the Pussy Riot girls are the first political prisoners in Russia and even that is long shot: while they are punished harshly, they behaved like maniacs.

Anonymous's picture

It's a dictatorship because there is no way to vote out Putin. Poll observers say that there were many problems with the last election, including companies which bussed their employees to the polls and ordered them to vote for Putin. Also new laws are continuously being passed which make it increasingly difficult to mount real opposition. Therefore Putin and Medvedev can play tag-team as long as they want.

Anthony Migchels's picture

Have you got any idea what kind of manipulation is going on the US with elections and Diebold computers? The last free election was at least before the Bush era.

meanwhile, there are more people in jail in the US than in China and Russia combined.

Anonymous's picture

I am not lauding the U.S. I responded to your comments about how can Putin be considered a dictator. Try to focus - you are a chess player so I am sure that you are capable of it.

Anthony Migchels's picture

well, Im not in good form, my rating has been declining for years, so please bear with me.

I'm just annoyed with the attitude that it is bon ton to defame russia and Putin, while living in the US or the EU. The simple truth is that the latter two are the real mass murderers.

Anonymous's picture

But you live in the US, right?

ll's picture

Disgraceful and ignorant comments. Have you heard of Sergei Magnitiski? Anna Politovskaia? Khodorkovski? Litvinenko. They can't refute Kasparov's idea so they beat him up. THAT IS DICTATORSHIP.

Anthony Migchels's picture

Wow.....Litvinenko was a double agent who first worked for the psychopaths of the FSB, to defect to the even worse psychpaths of MI6.
Magnitisky was a lawyer representing London based vulture capitalists and was murdered by the Kremlin. Not a pretty faith, but he was a highly criminal of the worst kind, working for those that plundered russia after the collapse of communism.

Putin, by the way, is popular in Russia because he at least put an end to the most blatant of frauds in the Jeltsin era.

Khodorkovski is a, dare I say it, omg, I'm going to do it JEWISH (there you have it!!) oligarch who raped the russians for billions and put his entire empire in Rothschild (could it be more blatant???) hands before getting rightfully arrested.

True: Anna Politkovskaja seems to have been a real lady and an example.

And mind you: I'm not saying Putin is a good guy. He's not. He works for the same puppeteers that rule over Netanyahu, Obama, Cameron, Hollande, Sarkozy, Merkel, and all the other globalist stooges and fools that are setting us up for WW3 and ensuing World Government.

But the people you have mentioned, except for the lady, really are the worst possible examples to make this case.

Septimus's picture

Dude, that is one wild conspiracy

Anthony Migchels's picture

yes.......conspiracy theory..........conspiracies are silly right?

People would conspire to defraud the public from this or that, or to sell drugs, or even to murder a wealthy husband to get at the goodies.

But not to rule the world, would they?

Nah......... It's just me. Doesn't happen.

Osama Bin Laden did 9/11, did not die late 2001, but recently. Netanyahu and Ahamadinejad really hate each other.

There is no known cure for cancer, and most certainly not dozens of them. AIDS really exists. Interest free credit is impossible. Men and women are born equal and God is dead.

The world's major banks most certainly don't own everything.

S3's picture

Why are you so obsessed with banks?

ll's picture

OK. Got it. You are a shameless antisemit. End of.

valg321's picture

yes Anthony, how dare you call someone a JEW!? You are an *antisemite* and you will burn in hell for your crimes...oh i forgot jews don't believe in hell because you know..we live in the best possible world.

Michael Lubin's picture

Khodorkovski is Jewish? And what difference does that make? Why all the lingering over "daring to say it," as if it were this incredibly important truth that is forbidden? If he's Jewish, he's Jewish. So what?

And what's this "Rothschild (could it be more blatant???)" business. Could WHAT be more blatant? A connection between two Jews? Oh, the horror!

Of COURSE you're an anti-Semite. Get lost, bigot.

Jiri Mazoch's picture

So, your opinion is that if someone behaves like maniac (in YOUR opinion!) they must be arrested and imprisoned? Great! You would like living in Russia, I am sure.

Jiri Mazoch's picture

If someone was interested in my opinion I would say this: if there was no reason that Kasparov should be -at all- CONTACTED by police (and that surely was not as he was just giving interview - so, not commiting anything "bad"), I guess there logically did not arise and justification why he could be accused of anything done against police.

webbimio's picture

I wonder what Kramnik thinks about this...

Eiae's picture

He'll think: " First flying pens and now rioting pus? What will be next for good old Gary?"

S3's picture

Oh chessvibes you are such a tease. I'm sure Kasparov gets away with it. But if he really bit an officer I defenitely hope he gets jailed.

ll's picture

You should change your id to either S2 or KGB.

Septimus's picture

Don't you know? S3 has incredible vision.

PutinGoHome's picture

It is an absolute abomination that the West stands by and lets Putin establish a dictatorship without any pressure at all.

Anonymous's picture

once they'll get Syria, they will go for Putin ! waiting for that, a little western propaganda can't hurt anyone but Russia

S3's picture

Why? "the West" can't stop him and neither has it a moral obligation to do so. It's not even a "classical" dictatorship that Putin seems to be aiming for.

The Russians must solve this mess themselves and I don't think they should do it by vandalizing religious buildings or biting police officers.

Born's picture

Kasparov is an animal, you can hear him screaming and fighting while in the van. I do believe he bit the officer in self-defence. Probably wouldn't hold up in court but that's the law of nature when someone kicks you in the balls.

ll's picture

Why do you think this bite matters? He was arrested for nothing and he will be jailed for nothing. KBG times are back!

Anonymous's picture

Exactly...since chess is so venerated in Russia, this might lead to a weakening of Putin.

Goendi's picture

Common... Resisting arrest, violence towards police officers. Self defense? WHAT self defense? They are arresting you, and they are allowed to use force when you resist arrest. And most certainly when you bite when being arrested. Or did you forget what a police man stands for?

bigga's picture

Apparently you forgot for what a police man stands for.

Creemer's picture


To serve and protect.

Berliner's picture

But why on earth did he put up all this resistance? Did he really expect to wrestle these guys down and escape from that van? Or didn't he mind a little bruise he could show afterwards? Maybe he got carried away a bit by the whole atmosphere there...

Vhomas Topalov's picture

They are allowed to arrest someone who is quitely giving an interview in a public street? Maybe in southafrica or in the u.s.a. if that someone is a nigg@, even though... I'm not sure.

Septimus's picture

What an ignorant thing to say. Enough with the US bashing already.

MH's picture

Unbelievable that people accept these kind of human rights violations by their government. Freedom of speech doen't exist in Russia. Scary country.

Ruben's picture

Is this so unbelieveble? In Holland also human rights violations happens every day.

Anonymous's picture

I wouldn't play at Olympiad being a russian chess player.

Anonymous's picture

If the video is cut, there must be something else going on that the editors don't want us to see... Nobody got the uncut version so we can freely make up our mind

Bartleby's picture

How about: Somebody stood in front of the camera?

Anonymous's picture


Anonymous's picture

How about. : the camera stood in front of someone ?

sirschratz's picture

this is the perfect machine of a dictatorship and putin uses democratic camouflage.

four radical thugs get at kasparov, force him down onto the street, almost under the bus - anybody who does not see that this is violence against citizens in the name of the state has got a serious misunderstanding of democracy.

maybe kasparov tried to protect himself and now this is the big problem. he could just as well have moved his little finger - technocrats and civil servants would always find a paragraph to make a criminal out of a victim.

however, this is the well-known practice of nationalistic right-wing states, like italy or germany to just name a few, not to mention the situation of julian assange.

putin is the the thuggish type of oppression practised these days throughout europe in a more elaborate way.

one should not forget that the conservative government in england threatened to use violence against foreign territory to get at a man against whom there is NO OFFICIAL charge. sweden only wants "to talk" to him.

had putin acted like the conservative british government there would have been an outrage!

putin is in a very obvious way a dictator and has russia turned into a dictatorship in democratic camouflage.

Everybody knows that and nobody does anything against it.
I have still got the happy faces of anand and gelfand in front of my mental eye when they met putin a shook hand with the very person who has been known as a cruel and reckless bully.

proud we all were to have tournaments next to the kremlin (ho ho!!!!) where the man sits who supports the Syrian killer.

we should be proud of kasparov!!

Anonymous's picture

What we have at the moment is an EDITING of a video, NOT THE VIDEO !!! So, we do not know what happened !!! Can you understand that Sirschratz ?

Anonymous's picture

I agree 100%.

Anonymous's picture

" this is the well-known practice of nationalistic right-wing states "

might also be a well known pratice of dumb ass activists !


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