Self-defense with weapons. The case of Anton Farb. We have to protect it.

Before the weekend, the network circulated information that the president of the federation “Krav Maga”, Anton Farb, was attacked by a group of people at night, as a result of which two attackers were in the emergency room with cut wounds, and Anton was detained on charges of completed attempted murder of two or more people.

On the one hand, a classic example of a necessary defense in accordance with part. 5 Art. 36 of the Criminal Code, on the other – the risk of getting 10 years in prison.

At the same time, the accusations were made officially with the serving of suspicion.

On such a serious charge, Anton was immediately placed in a temporary detention facility (ITT), and the measure of restraint was planned in the form of detention.

Fortunately, we managed to collect evidence (video from surveillance cameras, explanations of the minibus driver, identification protocols, etc.) in 20 hours to make the prosecutor’s office change its position.

To the honor of the deputy prosecutor of the city. Zhytomyr, he did not go to court with this evidence to choose a preventive measure in the form of detention. In general, the prosecutor acted reasonably: on the one hand, it pleases, and on the other hand, it is alarming, because the prosecutor’s office is still our opponents and the fight is planned to be protracted.

We believe that the protection of Anton in this situation is a common cause of our community. After all, this is a practical example of the right to armed self-defense.

So please, dear friends, support the legal struggle in this case.

We will separately explain our position on the issues that have now accumulated in this case.

1. “It is better to run away and call the police than to have such problems” .

If someone did not know, the principle of “stand your ground” is enshrined in Ukraine at the legislative level, that is, no one is obliged to run away and if he wants, he has the right to defend himself. For more details, see ch. 2 Art. 36 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in Art. 19, 281 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.
And only Soviet traditions of law enforcement neglect this norm. Therefore, our task is to strengthen the authority of this principle.

2. “Leaving in danger and leaving the scene can play against the defender”.

In the case of Anton, there were no persons in a helpless state. Even after being wounded, the attackers continued their aggression and persecution of Anton. In this case, the defending person has no obligation to “make friends” with the attackers, sit together, grieve and wait for the police. Anton left a dangerous place for himself. Only two of the four attackers were wounded. The other two could and should have dealt with their “colleagues”.

3. “Why didn’t you call the police?”

As Anton explained to the investigator, at that time he had no legal claims against the attackers, despite the injuries he received. According to Anton, they received a sufficient rebuff. On the one hand, we agree with this, but on the other hand, there is a risk that the attackers, having called the police, can destroy or falsify the evidence base in their favor. In such cases, it is important to leave the place of aggression, move to a safe distance, assess the presence of eyewitnesses to the incident and try to take their contacts or, upon arrival of the police, inform them of the numbers of the eyewitnesses’ cars and indicate their version of the conflict. This will save you time and money in working with a lawyer.

4. “Cuts on the neck are aggravating circumstances”.

Dear friends, we remind you that the content of Part 5 of Art. 36 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “does not exceed the limits of necessary defense and does not entail criminal liability for the use of weapons or any other means or objects to defend against an attack by an armed person or an attack by a group of persons, as well as to prevent an unlawful violent intrusion into a home or other premises, regardless of the severity of the damage caused to the intruder.

Thus, the consequences could have been fatal. But it is critically important to prove that there was an attack, and an attack by a group of people. In the case of Anton, we managed to get a video faster than the investigators, which confirms that it was a group of people who attacked him (the video will be posted after the court on preventive measures).

Everyone should remember that it is easier to beat only the father in a group, otherwise it can lead to the death of someone from the group, without consequences for the “father”.

As a lyrical digression, we note that not all cuts are evil. Surgeons cut for good. In the case of Anton’s attackers, “the operation to increase the gray matter of the brain was successful. The patients survived”.

P.S. Of course, there is still a huge amount of work ahead, because the investigators have “the wrong mentality”, they can not just take and release without “indicators” when there are two people with stab wounds.

So once again we count on your support in this case, which should break the Soviet stereotypes of self-defense. Separately, the Privatbank card number is 5169330510352658 in the purpose: “for the legal struggle for armed protection”. (There are also accounts in cryptocurrency by the link)

P.P.S. Additional thanks to everyone who spread the information about Anton’s case on FB, it really had an important impact on the quick decision of the prosecutor’s office to release him from his detention center.

We will overcome!

Author: Vitaliy Kolomiets
Attorneys at law “Orekhovskyi and Kolomiets”