Expert

Forensic linguistic expert report, 30.06.2022

Document details
CaseCriminal defamation case (Moscow) — Уголовное дело · 2021–2024
Date
Document typeExpert report
InstanceInvestigation
Pages19
SourceМатериалы дела
Added08.10.2026

This material has been redacted to protect personal data: names of all persons (except the surname Artsinovich), case and act numbers, signatures, seals and identifiers are hidden and cannot be recovered from the image or text.

Forensic linguistic expert report, 30.06.2022 — Page 1

Text version

Unofficial translation.

Forensic linguistic expert report [скрыто] of 30 June 2022 (Forensic Science Centre of the Moscow Police)

[[PAGE 1]]

[Letterhead: MINISTRY OF [скрыто] [скрыто] OF RUSSIA — [скрыто] [скрыто] OF [скрыто] [скрыто] OF [скрыто] [скрыто] OF [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] CITY OF MOSCOW, [скрыто], Moscow, 127994, tel.[скрыто], e-mail: [скрыто][скрыто]

To: the Deputy Head of the Inquiry Unit of the Internal Affairs Department of Russia for the Khamovniki District of Moscow, police lieutenant colonel [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]

Re: the transmission of the expert report and of the objects of the examination

Herewith are sent expert report [скрыто] and the objects of the examination in the materials of criminal case [скрыто]

Annexes: 1. As per the text, on 9 sheets;
2. A copy of the record of the questioning of the victim Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] of 15.10.2021 and of 25.04.2022;
3. The record of the inspection of written evidence of 24.09.2021 with its annex;
4. A copy of the record of the inspection and listening to the video recording;
5. The disc "VS CD-R compact disk Recordable 700 MB 52x speed vitesse velocidad 80 min", sealed with a seal bearing the text "Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the City of Moscow * Forensic Science Centre * [скрыто] 2" — to the addressee only.

Acting Deputy Head of the Forensic Science Centre of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the City of Moscow, police colonel — [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] [signature]

[[PAGE 2]]

[Reverse side of the covering letter with the service marks: "printed in 2 copies; 1 — to the addressee; 2 — to the file of the Forensic Science Centre; drawn up by [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто],[скрыто], 30.06.2022".]

[[PAGE 3]]

[Letterhead: MINISTRY OF [скрыто] [скрыто] OF RUSSIA — [скрыто] [скрыто] … [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] OF MOSCOW — [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], Moscow, [скрыто], tel.[скрыто]]

UNDERTAKING

I, [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], have had explained to me, in accordance with Article 14 of Federal Law [скрыто] of 31 May 2001 "On State Forensic Expert Activity in the Russian Federation", the rights and obligations of an expert provided for by Articles 16 and 17 of the said Law.

On being entrusted with the conduct of the examination, I have been warned of liability for giving a knowingly false report under Article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

"16" May 2022 — [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] [signature, seal [скрыто] 2]

[скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]

Moscow — "30" June 2022

The examination was commenced at 16 hours 20 minutes on "16" May 2022; completed at 12 hours 30 minutes on "30" June 2022.

I, the expert (specialist) of the department of phonoscopic and linguistic examinations of the Forensic Science Centre of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the City of Moscow, [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], having higher philological education (specialisation "Russian language and literature"), higher legal education (specialisation "jurisprudence") and nineteen years' experience of work in the expert specialisations (identification of persons from speech phonograms; technical examination of phonograms; examination of text for the purpose of resolving questions of semantic understanding), on the basis of the decision commissioning a forensic linguistic examination, issued on 26 April 2022 by the Deputy Head of the Inquiry Unit of the Internal Affairs Department of Russia for the Khamovniki District of Moscow, police major [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], in criminal case [скрыто], carried out a forensic linguistic examination.

Circumstances of the case /the text is reproduced without alteration, with some abridgements/:

"The inquiry authorities have established that, at an unidentified time but no later than 27.12.2020, an unidentified person, being in an unidentified place and using unidentified technical means, disseminated on the 'Facebook' social network, on the page under the name '[скрыто] Artsinovich', a publicly displayed article containing knowingly false information which defames the honour and dignity and also undermines the reputation of citizen Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто], who

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first discovered it on 27.12.2020 in a place not precisely established by the inquiry, in connection with which citizen Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] applied to the Internal Affairs Department of Russia for the Khamovniki District of Moscow at the address: Moscow, [скрыто].

Questioned as a victim, [скрыто] stated that in December 2020 Artsinovich disseminated on the Internet, on his personal page under the name '[скрыто] Artsinovich' on the social network 'Facebook', knowingly false information defaming him, namely that he calle[скрыто]

Also, in September 2021 [скрыто] received from friends a link to Artsinovich's YouTube video channel, on which several videos in interview format were presented. These videos were preserved by [скрыто] by applying to a notary, who personally accessed Artsinovich's YouTube channel, viewed the videos and copied them onto a disc. That disc was inspected by the Inquiry Unit of the Internal Affairs Department of Russia for the Khamovniki District of Moscow, and a record of the inspection and listening to the video recording was drawn up."

Placed at the expert's disposal /the text is reproduced without alteration/:

"- the present decision;

  • a copy of the record of the questioning of the victim Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] of 15.10.2021 and of 25.04.2022;
  • the record of the inspection of written evidence of 24.09.2021 with its annex;
  • a copy of the record of the inspection and listening to the video recording;
  • the disc 'VS CD-R compact disk Recordable 700 MB 52x speed vitesse velocidad 80 min'."

The following question was put to the expert /the question is reproduced without alteration/:

"- Are there, in the video material submitted, statements in which any facts of reality or state of affairs relating to [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] have received verbal expression and which express a negative assessment of his personality and activities? If there are, in what form? Is there a reference to any source of information?"

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Inspection of the materials submitted for examination and their description

The materials were received for examination on 16 May 2022, both unpackaged and packaged.

There were submitted:

— the record of the inspection of written evidence of 24.09.2021, on two A4 sheets with printed text on both sides, with an annex on 10 sheets. Along the upper left edge there is a through hole approximately 05 mm in diameter. The sheets are bound with red tape. On the last sheet the ends of the tape are glued down with a piece of red material, sealed with the impression of a round seal made with blue dye, with the partly legible text "NOTARY … YAKUB… * NOTARIAL … G. M …"; there is the impression of a stamp made with blue dye and handwritten text made with violet dye: "IN [скрыто], [скрыто], [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] — 11 (eleven) SHEETS +1 CD-R disc. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] T. O. YAKUBOVA — T. N. LITVINOVA", and one signature made with violet dye in the name of [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. On the second sheet of the record there is one signature made with blue dye in the name of [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. The second sheet of the record is certified by one signature made with violet dye and one seal impression made with blue dye, with the partly legible text "NOTARY T. O. YAKUBOVA * NO…AL DISTRICT … MOSCOW * …". Annexed to the record is an annex on 9 A4 sheets with images on one side. On the 9th sheet there is one signature made with blue dye in the name of [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], one signature made with blue dye, and one impression of a round seal made with blue dye, with the partly legible text "NOTARY T. O. YAKUBOVA * [скрыто] [скрыто]: MOSCOW * …".

Sewn into the annex is a white paper envelope measuring approximately 325x229 mm. On the flap of the envelope there is a covering inscription made by hand with blue colouring matter: "Annex 7", and the impression of a round armorial seal made with blue colouring matter with the partly legible text: "…T O YAKUBOVA * …L [скрыто] [скрыто]* … ". The flap of the envelope is sealed with a strip of white paper bearing a covering inscription made by hand with blue colouring matter, with the partly legible text: "inspected by the Deputy Head of the Inquiry Unit of the Internal Affairs Department of Russia, Khamovniki … SI", and one signature. The flap is sealed with adhesive tape.

On opening the envelope, one disc was removed from it.

The disc is a standard CD-R compact disc with a yellow surface. On the non-working surface of the disc there are the inscriptions "VS CD-R COMPACT disc Recordable 700MB 80MIN Title Date Content", made industrially. Around the mounting ring of the disc there are 2 faintly legible numbers, read by the expert as: "[скрыто] [скрыто] D3", "CD-R 80 CWLHT-2144 B 401";

— a copy of the record of the questioning of the victim of 15 October 2021, on two unbound A4 sheets with printed text on one side. Each sheet is certified by one impression of a stamp made with blue dye, "COPY", and one impression of a round seal made with blue dye with the partly legible text "MIA of Russia * Main Directorate of the MIA of Russia for the City of Moscow * Internal Affairs Directorate for the Central Administrative District … * Internal Affairs Department of Russia for the Khamovniki District of Moscow [скрыто]";

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[Continuation of the description of the materials submitted: the record of the questioning of 25.04.2022, the record of the inspection and listening to the video recording, and the list of reference literature used in the examination (items 1–4).]

[[PAGE 7]]

[Continuation of the list of reference literature used:]

  1. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. Large Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language. — St Petersburg, 2002.
  2. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто], [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. Explanatory Dictionary of the Modern Russian Language. — Moscow, 2011.
  3. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. Dictionary of Abbreviations of the Modern Russian Language. — Moscow, 2006.
  4. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. New Words and Their Meanings in Modern Newspaper Texts (A Short Reference Dictionary). — Gomel, 2012.
  5. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. The Newest Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language of the 21st Century. — Moscow, 2011.
  6. [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто]. Large Dictionary of Russian Colloquial Expressive Speech. — St Petersburg, 2004.

In the process of the examination and of drawing up the report the following terms and definitions may be used:

Addresser — the subject of speech, the speaker; the central category of pragmatics, conditioning and organising all the components of communicative processes.

Addressee — the person perceiving the message, the listener or reader; the central category of pragmatics.

A statement in the form of an assertion of fact — a statement whose propositional component is correlated with reality.

A statement in the form of a non-categorical assertion of fact — a statement whose propositional component is correlated with reality indirectly, through the category of authorisation. Non-categorical assertions may be expressed by means of markers of authorisation:

  • constructions "noun (pronoun) denoting a person + verb of thinking/speaking (to consider, to think, to know, to suppose, to say, etc.)";
  • introductory words correlating the content of the assertion with the source of what is reported.

A non-categorical assertion of fact may have no markers of authorisation but acquire the meaning of a non-categorical assertion from the context.

Communicative situation — a specific situation of communication, which includes the partners in communication, the conditions and the means of carrying out the communicative task.

Connotation — the emotional evaluative or stylistic colouring of a linguistic unit.

Context — oral or written speech possessing semantic completeness, which makes it possible to ascertain the sense and meaning of individual fragments (words, expressions or passages of text) forming part of it.

Lexeme — a word as a structural element of the language.

Modality — a functional-semantic category expressing different types of relation of the statement to reality (objective modality) and different types of subjective qualification of what is reported (subjective modality), expressed by various grammatical and lexical means, such as forms of mood, modal verbs, intonation, etc.

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[Continuation of the list of terms and definitions used by the expert: "assessment", "negative assessment", "assertion", "opinion", "value judgment", "presupposition", "proposition", "speech act", "source of information" and others.]

[[PAGE 9]]

— the spelling and punctuation in the quoted fragments have been preserved.

Identification of the objects of the examination

With a view to identifying the objects relevant to the subject of the examination, the expert examined the content of the materials submitted. As a result the following was established.

ST1 is contained on the disc submitted in the file "Meeting with my friend [скрыто] [скрыто]. A gentlemen's agreement with [скрыто].mp4". It begins approximately 00 minutes 13 seconds in with the words: "They came to me as paupers" and ends with the words: "Moscow, 2021". The duration of ST1 is approximately 17 minutes 14 seconds.

ST2 is contained on the disc submitted in the file "Crime and bandits of the 21st century. A threat to Artsinovich's life.mp4". It begins approximately 00 minutes 00 seconds in with the words: "They gave false evidence" and ends with the words: "Moscow, 2021". The duration of ST2 is approximately 29 minutes 48 seconds.

ST3 is contained on the disc submitted in the file "The death of [скрыто] [скрыто]. The 'Rosmoravia' case. The magic of [скрыто]'s charisma..mp4". It begins approximately 00 minutes 14 seconds in with the words: "People earned money from smuggling" and ends with the words: "Moscow, 2021". The duration of ST3 is approximately 22 minutes 45 seconds.

There are no other files on the disc submitted.

Description of the objects of the examination and determination of their suitability for linguistic examination

ST1–ST3 are realised in the interview genre.

Interview — indeclinable, neuter. 1. A conversation with some person, intended for dissemination in the mass media, in the form of questions and answers on topics of public interest [1].

ST1–ST3 are complex texts including the following components:

  • the sounding verbal component (speech in Russian);
  • the visual-verbal component (headline, captions to photographic images, and simple written texts thematically connected with the oral text, presented as inserts, quotations and captions);
  • the visual component (photographs);
  • the sounding non-verbal component (sound accompaniment to the written and oral texts: music, sound effects).

No relations of mutual complementarity have been established between the sounding verbal and the visual-verbal components. The visual-verbal components frame the presentation of the information and perform an illustrative function. Thus ST1–ST3 are combined texts.

The presentation of the material in the sounding verbal component (oral texts) is in dialogical, question-and-answer form.

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[Continuation of the description of the objects: the texts are found suitable for linguistic examination; a description of the methods used.]

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[The methods applied are listed:]

  • analysis of the structural organisation of the text (identification and description of the structural units of the text, their boundaries and modes of presentation, characterisation of the integrity and coherence of the text);
  • lexico-semantic and semantico-syntactic analysis (determination of the meaning of words, word combinations and sentences in the context of the statement and of the supra-phrasal unity);
  • grammatical analysis of sentences (determination of the grammatical meaning of words);
  • analysis of propositions, or logico-grammatical analysis (determination of the logical basis of the semantic structure of the sentence);
  • analysis of presuppositions (determination of the common component of knowledge for the participants in the communication);
  • componential analysis of the word (determination of the semic composition of the word);
  • functional-pragmatic analysis (characterisation of the illocutionary function of the statement and determination of the type of speech act);
  • rhetorical analysis, or analysis of the argumentative component of the text (identification of the constituents of the argumentative structure of the text — the justifications);
  • the method of interpretation and generalisation;
  • the hypothetico-deductive method.

Resolution of the question put

The resolution of the question was carried out stage by stage over the text.

  1. Analysis of the communicative situation (determination of the addressee, the addresser and the channel of communication).
  2. Identification of the structural components of assessment (subject, object, scale of assessments and stereotypes).
  3. Identification of the words and statements in which an assessment of the object is given; semantico-syntactic analysis of those statements and lexico-semantic, linguo-stylistic and componential analysis of the words carrying the assessment, with a view to determining their negative or positive meaning and stylistic characteristics.
  4. Determination of the form of presentation of the information (assertion, non-categorical assertion, supposition, value judgment).
  5. Identification of references to the source of information.

Addresser — the person (persons) who created the texts and posted them on the Internet resource, designated as "ARTSINOVICH", "[скрыто] Artsinovich, founder of the British jewellery brand MAXIMILIAN-LONDON, collector, patron of the arts, animal advocate".

Addressee — an indeterminate circle of persons having access to ST1–ST3.

Texts posted on the Internet acquire the features of interpersonal orientation.

The subject of the assessment is the person or group of persons from whose point of view the assessment is given. In the texts examined the subject of the assessment is the person designated as "ARTSINOVICH", "[скрыто] Artsinovich, founder of the British jewellery brand MAXIMILIAN-LONDON, collector, patron of the arts, animal advocate".

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The object of the assessment is the persons, objects, events or state of affairs to which the assessment relates. The object of the assessment is "[скрыто] [скрыто]", "Yura", "[скрыто]", according to the data in the decision — Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто].

By the methods of lexico-semantic, semantico-syntactic and componential analysis, the presence or absence of a negative-evaluative component in the structure of the semantics of the statement relating to Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] was established.

The stereotype of assessment always constitutes a rational-evaluative connotation known to native speakers from universal human or national experience, of the type: good — bad.

In ST1 the following statements correspond to the search criteria:

  1. "[скрыто] and [скрыто] had a business, they had a financial company which bought up vouchers, engaged in privatisation there, in the purchase of shares, bonds and something else. Such a financial company means shoot-outs, score-settling, back and forth. The nineties. Of course, Seryozha told me all sorts of interesting things, that they had criminality there, bandits, shoot-outs, back and forth, the Tambov gang, the [скрыто] gang, Chechens. <…> [скрыто] completely stiffed [скрыто], stripped him right down to the bone."
  2. "<…> Yura was never in customs, that is, he was engaged in these scams of his, machinations, finances, in Petersburg <…>."
  3. "They came to me as paupers, and after that momentous meeting they became very rich people."

The subject of the assessment is the person designated as "ARTSINOVICH".

The object of the assessment is the person designated as "[скрыто]", "Yura", presented explicitly; also presented in statements 1 and 3 as one of a number of persons. In statements 2 and 3 the anaphoric pronouns "he" are used, recovered from the context as "Yura"; "they had", recovered from the context as "[скрыто]" and "[скрыто]"; "they", recovered from the context as "Yura" and "Sasha".

To express the negative assessment, statements are used which contain a description of [скрыто]'s acts: "stiffed his business partner [скрыто] out of money", "engaged in scams, machinations"; and the direct designation "pauper".

On the basis of propositional analysis, taking presuppositions into account, it is determined that: [скрыто] was engaged in criminality, shoot-outs, meetings with bandits, swindling and fraud; he stiffed his business partner and was a destitute man before meeting Roma [скрыто].

Criminality — 1. That in which there are elements of an offence; a criminal case. 2. Anything reprehensible which goes beyond generally accepted norms of behaviour and therefore deserves censure. II m. The criminal milieu; criminals. [2]
Bandit — m. 1. A member of a gang or of a bandit group who commits robbery attacks; an armed robber. 2. colloq. One who is guilty of some offences. II m. colloq. A member of an armed terrorist — usually nationalist — group; a militant. [2]
Shoot-out (strelka) — slang. A meeting of bandit groups to settle relations or conclude deals (usually extremely tense, with armed participants confronting each other); any meeting, any rendezvous. [10]
To stiff (kidat') — slang. 6. To deceive, not to return what has been taken. [5]

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Scam (afera) — A dishonest, fraudulent enterprise, affair or action. [4]
Machination — disapproving. An intrigue, a dishonest trick, swindling. [4]

To express the negative assessment of the object, a message is used which contains the evaluative lexeme "pauper".

Pauper (nishchebrod) — archaic. A destitute vagrant. [2]

It is determined that [скрыто] was engaged in something reprehensible, in swindling and fraud, took part in meetings of bandit groups, deceived his business partner and was a destitute man before meeting Roma [скрыто].

These states of affairs characterise the activity of the person designated as "[скрыто]"; for the characterisation, vocabulary with neutral semantics is used. The words examined have in this context a negative connotation and special usage labels, and are a means of expressing a negative assessment of the acts of the person designated as "[скрыто]".

Thus, in ST1 there are statements which contain a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] and of his acts.

In ST2 the following statements correspond to the search criteria:

  1. "<…> that is, these fraudsters, thieves and rogues became rich people, well, because I brought them there, where they had to go <…>";
  2. "<…> That is, his money was dirty, I have a normal, clean business, yes, his money was dirty, it hung in offshores, and we sort of ran his cash from the offshores through our companies <…>";
  3. "<…> And I took from that goat, because one could take from anyone, but I took from him, because he was constantly in my orbit <…>";
  4. "<…> the man has been engaged in smuggling professionally all his life";
  5. "<…> Although he did not give two million under the contract. And this money which he sort of gave us, we sort of returned to him, but this money, one million one hundred and seventy-seven thousand one hundred and thirty-four, they gave us in cash in Moscow and there is a receipt for it. That is fraud <…>";
  6. "<…> That is, before me there were six analogous cases where they gave companies money, the owners of the companies gave a personal guarantee in the form of a personal receipt, and after that they went to court, when the money had already been returned to them, and obtained that money under the receipt. That is, these are raiders, this is an organised criminal group <…>";
  7. "<…> And the thing is that [скрыто] — he is downright criminal, he has this bandit romance, it has been playing in his backside for a very long time <…>";
  8. "<…> I will be able to prove according to the law that he and his company are criminals who have committed a criminal offence against me <…>"

In all the fragments examined the subject of the assessment is the addresser designated as "[скрыто] Artsinovich, founder of the British jewellery brand MAXIMILIAN-LONDON, collector, patron of the arts, animal advocate".

The object of the assessment is the person designated as "[скрыто]", presented as one of a number of persons in statements 1, 6 and 8 (plural pronouns and plural verbs of joint action are used).

[[PAGE 14]]

[Continuation of the analysis of ST2: dictionary definitions of the words "fraudster", "thief", "rogue", "dirty money", "smuggling", "raider", "organised criminal group".]

[[PAGE 15]]

Goat (kozel) — 1. colloq.-derogatory. A stubborn person, unpleasant to deal with. 2. Used as a censorious or abusive word. [2]
Criminal (kriminalny) — 1. Felonious, criminal. [5]
Bandit-like (banditsky) — 2. Characteristic of a bandit, typical of him.
Criminal (ugolovnik) — A criminal offender. [5]

The words examined have in this context a negative connotation; a negative connotation is also traceable in the meaning of the words through the functional labels restricting the sphere of use of the word — "colloq.-derogatory" — and therefore their use is a means of expressing a negative assessment of the person designated as "[скрыто]".

It is determined that [скрыто] deceived others as part of a group of persons for mercenary ends, committed thefts, defrauded, was engaged in the duty-free transport of goods across the border; absorbed enterprises against their will and was a member of an organised criminal group; his money was obtained dishonestly. [скрыто] is characterised as a person unpleasant to deal with, criminal.

These states of affairs characterise the activity of the person designated as "[скрыто]"; for the characterisation, vocabulary with neutral semantics is used. The words examined have in this context a negative connotation and special labels, and are a means of expressing a negative assessment of the object, of his acts and of the results of the activity of the person designated as "[скрыто]".

Thus, in ST2 there are statements which contain a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто], of his acts and of the results of his activity.

In ST3 the following statements correspond to the search criteria:

  1. "<…> And they begin to bring through several hundred containers of contraband monthly through the north-western customs <…>";
  2. "<…> I know [скрыто] himself, who repeatedly told me this, that is, he in fact monopolised the market by smuggling through the north-western customs, took it under his protection, that is, whoever had problems, whoever could not travel, he took them under himself <…>";
  3. "<…> he bought watches for the company, he is such a cunning f**ker, such, well, I don't even know how to put it, and he is not a Jew, in general <…>."

To express the negative assessment, statements are used which contain a description of [скрыто]'s acts: "was engaged in smuggling"; "monopolised the market by smuggling"; and the direct designation: "cunning f**ker".

On the basis of propositional analysis, taking presuppositions into account, it is determined that [скрыто] is engaged in smuggling and has monopolised the market.

To monopolise — 1. To carry out monopolisation. 2. To appropriate the exclusive right to do something. [2]

[There follow the expert's dictionary definitions of the components of the word "cunning f**ker" ("cunning" — concealing one's true intentions, acting in a roundabout, deceitful way; sly; and the taboo verb from which the second component is derived, with the meanings: 1. to have sexual intercourse (of a man); 2. to scold, to reprimand someone; 3. to treat someone or something with complete contempt).]

[[PAGE 16]]

The word examined has in this context a negative connotation; a negative connotation is also traceable in the meaning of the word through the functional labels restricting the sphere of use of this word — "taboo" — and therefore its use is a means of expressing a negative assessment of the person designated as "[скрыто]".

It is determined that [скрыто] was engaged in the duty-free transport of goods across the border, having appropriated the exclusive right in the sales market. [скрыто] is characterised as a person who conceals his true intentions and treats others with complete contempt.

These states of affairs characterise the activity of the person designated as "[скрыто]"; for the characterisation, vocabulary with neutral semantics is used. In addition, the use of stylistically marked vocabulary is noted. The words examined have in this context a negative connotation and special labels, and are a means of expressing a negative assessment of the acts of the person designated as "[скрыто]".

Thus, in ST3 there are statements which contain a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] and of his acts.

* * *

Next the forms of presentation of the information were determined, for which purpose a search for characteristic linguistic markers was carried out.

An assertion is a statement in which something is asserted and in which the connection between an object and its attributes is displayed. Grammatically an assertion is expressed by the form of a declarative sentence, through indicators of objective modality (the indicative mood).

Assertions of fact are recognised in a text by the absence in the sentence of marking by special introductory constructions and adverbs expressing uncertainty or doubt, or by the presence of marking by constructions emphasising the reliability of what is reported (for example: "it is known", "precisely", "authentically", "without doubt", "in fact", etc.).

A statement in the form of a non-categorical assertion of fact is a statement whose propositional component is correlated with reality indirectly, through the category of authorisation.

A supposition, unlike an assertion of fact, contains special markers — words expressing uncertainty, doubt, the probability of the occurrence of some event, one of a number of possible versions (for example: "may be", "probably", "apparently", "as it appears", "it seems", etc.).

[[PAGE 17]]

[Continuation: definitions of "value judgment" and the results of applying these criteria to ST1 and ST2.]

[[PAGE 18]]

In the text recorded in the file "The death of [скрыто] [скрыто]. The 'Rosmoravia' case. The magic of [скрыто]'s charisma" there are statements in which facts of reality and a state of affairs relating to Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] have received verbal expression and which express a negative assessment of his acts (activity). The statements are presented in the form of an assertion.

Also, in the text submitted there is a statement containing a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] presented in the form of a value judgment.

* * *

In order to resolve the question of the existence of references to any source of information in the texts examined, a search was carried out for markers of subjective modality indicating the source of the information reported. A search was also carried out for the formal expression of the interpretation of another's speech.

In ST1, in statement 1 there is a reference to the source of information: "Seryozha told me a lot <…>"; in statements 2 and 3 (ST1), in ST2 and in ST3 there are no references to a source of information.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. In the video material recorded in the file "Meeting with my friend [скрыто] [скрыто]. A gentlemen's agreement with [скрыто]" there are statements in which facts of reality and a state of affairs relating to Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] have received verbal expression and which express a negative assessment of his acts (activity). The statements are presented in the form of an assertion and of a non-categorical assertion.

Also, in the text submitted there is a statement containing a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто], presented in the form of a value judgment.

In the video material submitted, in the statement "[скрыто] and [скрыто] had a business, they had a financial company which bought up vouchers, engaged in privatisation there, in the purchase of shares, bonds and something else. Such a financial company means shoot-outs, score-settling, back and forth. The nineties. Of course, Seryozha told me all sorts of interesting things, that they had criminality there, bandits, shoot-outs, back and forth, the Tambov gang, the [скрыто] gang, Chechens. <…> [скрыто] completely stiffed [скрыто], stripped him right down to the bone" there is a reference to a source of information. In the other statements examined there are no references to a source of information.

In the video material recorded in the file "Crime and bandits of the 21st century. A threat to Artsinovich's life" there are statements in which facts of reality and a state of affairs relating to Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] have received verbal expression and which express a negative assessment of his acts (activity). The statements are presented in the form of an assertion.

Also, in the text submitted there are statements containing a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто], presented in the form of a value judgment.

In the statements examined there are no references to a source of information.

In the video material recorded in the file "The death of [скрыто] [скрыто]. The 'Rosmoravia' case. The magic of [скрыто]'s charisma" there are statements in which facts of reality and a state of affairs have received verbal expression which have

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a relation to Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто] and which express a negative assessment of his acts (activity). The statements are presented in the form of an assertion.

Also, in the text submitted there is a statement containing a negative assessment of Yu. [скрыто] [скрыто], presented in the form of a value judgment.

In the statements examined there are no references to a source of information.

Expert — [скрыто] [скрыто] [скрыто] [signature, seal of the Forensic Science Centre of the Main Directorate of the MIA of Russia for the City of Moscow [скрыто] 2]