ABSTRACT
On 8 February 2014, Petr Pavlenskii performed Svoboda (Freedom) in the heart of St Petersburg. He set fire to two or three dozen tyres on the pedestrian bridge over the Griboedov canal, only a few steps from the entrance to the Russian Museum. The event was dedicated to the Ukrainian revolution, particularly the events in Maidan Square. The artist was arrested and charged with vandalism. This chapter presents several dialogues that are abbreviated transcripts of Pavlenskii's interrogations by the investigator Pavel Yasman of the investigation committee. According to Pavlenskii, the content of Freedom is based on the complementarity of the street action and the reaction to it by various representatives of the state: the police, investigators, judges, prosecutors and prison guards. Pavlenskii was still in prison awaiting trial when the investigator who conducted the interrogation had a sudden change of heart and resigned from the investigative committee for political reasons to begin a career as a human-rights lawyer.
