Sentenced to Death by a Crowd: Russian Roulette (Dispatch 86) 

This reporter deserves the highest possible award in Journalism - whatever that is. I truly believe he is doing a magnificent job. Keep it up and stay safe please .

After all these years this still stands up as one of the greatest pieces of modern journalism Simon did an amazing job

"Was that person who was sentenced to death by people's court executed?" "No." "What happened to him?" "Nothing. He is alive, but in prison." "Has the date of his execution been set?" "Certainly not." "Why?" "Because the anticipation of death is worse than death itself." Wow. That's violently Russian. :x

The hypocrisy in these people is never ending. "We fight fascists" HAH!

Loose women are far less dangerous than armed friggin' soldiers, dude.

half of that crowd "well i just wanted to see somebody get killed"

VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky traveled to Alchevsk in the Luhansk region to interview Alexei Mozgovoi, who's been running a "people's court" in which people are tried for various crimes, from rape to theft, with residents acting as the jury. Click to watch "The Firefighters of Donetsk: Russian Roulette (Dispatch 85)" - bit.ly/1qCEyMH

I'm very disturbed by that "peoples court" part...

That's more of a mob than a jury trial.

Russians really still live and have mindset like they are from the 1800s

as far as the comment about women in bars, etc, its glaringly clear that it was indeed taken out of context by anyone who's saying that what he said was that he intended to arrest women for going to bars. the fact that the person making this questions it, when he includes the footage that clearly sets the larger context which shows it is indeed the opposite of what that single sentence cherry picked would seem to mean, makes his credibility quite dubious.

In fairness, they took what that guy said completely out of context. He was actually making an ironic point to highlight the stupidity of victim blaming

Just another day in 1918 Russia. Oooops it's actually 2014 Ukraine.

"We fight against fascism" my ass.

I like Mozgavoy's frankness. I'm not saying I'm for or against what he's doing, but I like that he explains himself very clearly and doesn't just use abstract or overly broad phraseology that prevents people from figuring what exactly he stands for.

Difficult times for the peoples of Ukraine; east and west. My blessings to all Ukrainians.

If this keeps going on, Donbass will just turn into an area controlled by War Lords

you know being a person of Ukrainian decent living in the west and seeing this stuff going on right now, and how barbaric its getting. i am very thankful that whatever spurred my great grandparents to move out of there that it was for a better life somewhere else away from the madness....

Imagine living in one of these places: electricity is turned off, no jobs, serial killers, robbers and rapists walking around with guns making their own law, this is mafia + Russian military. The men accusing women of being prostitutes saying they have no morals when they are occupying the region as just criminals with guns doing anything they want. It’s a bunch of rapists robbers and killers accusing some poor women who got attacked or try to go about their loves of not having morals.

I am happy to see actual investigative journalism here. A lot more interesting than what you see on the normal networks. Keep up the good work!

This is excellent journalism, definitely! Many things happened (and is still happening in DNR.. Its so difficult to know what is going on there..except for the rare feedback of some very brave on the ground journalist! Many thanks to VICE and Simon for this video.

A lot of the comments here are being made based on misunderstandings and assumptions, so let me summarize the court scene for those who didn't read all of the sub-titles or misread them. A man says that the woman willingly went to the accused rapist's house, therefore she is a prostitute and cannot be raped. The guy behind the table says that he will arrest any woman in a bar (sarcastically); he then clarifies this by saying that a woman is not a prostitute and unrapeable for just being in a certain place. The people agree with this and the mass majority vote in favour of the death penalty. When the journalist is interviewing the man who made the sarcastic comment, Alexei (Not sure how to spell it), he states that the rapist is in prison and has not been killed yet because he needs time to make an appeal. The scene was cut up into a lot of parts, we do not know if evidence was or was not presented to the jury. Please make sure you watch the whole video in its full context before rage commenting about an unjust system or evil, woman-hating cultures. Yes, this system is flawed, but it is still in its infancy and has a lot of time to improve. I for one really like the idea of large juries, but crowd mentality is a big weakness and could be fixed by making the votes done by ballots.

This series is. a gold mine. I feel like Simon was 10years ahead of his time

These people are ignorant and live in the 16th century with modern weapons

NOW THIS IS WHAT REAL REPORTERS DO!!!

This guy is tottaly the old Kane from c&c games. One purpose, one vision, peace through power!

So whoever gets to the courtroom first and claims a seat gets to decide if they kill this guy? Thats insane.

Simon is one of the best journalists from any source, zero bias all the time. These videos should be seen as the precursor to events that continue to unfold today.

I was supprised that the court didnt provide any evidence?

This self-proclaimed 'judge' (Alexei Mozgovoy) was assassinated today along with 6 other in his car.

Simon Ostrovsky is actually so brave for continuing the reports from that side aswell, hope these mongols don't kidnap him again.

Доставляет портрет Суркова в кабинете Козицина. РФ участвует в конфликте? Нет не слышал. :))))))

Very interesting thank you Simon. You're the best

This again is the problem with criminal law.... The crowd was not the victim and has no standing to say what is proper justice . That belongs to the victim or the victims family

These "fine people" just brought "torches and pitchforks"-style justice back to a civilised country! I'd love to hear what you Put(a)in fanboys have to say about it.

Once the 2022 war is over, Simon should definitely return to Ukraine to provide us with top journalism like here once more

From what I remember from that court video, the first guy did not get an execution, the second did.

1:27 the russian commander demands some "Butterbrot" hahaha :D

The peoples court didnt offer the guy defending vitaly much say they were just like “dont bring that up again” that seems fishy

“The Fascists of the future will be the anti-fascists.”

All of the 'Russian Roulette' videos are outstanding. Brave crew.

For all the people in the comment section Although this seems premitive law system you gotta know that this is happening in East ukrain Which is an area undergoing a war for years now and it isn't under the control of any government So it maybe unacceptable for us but it's the only sort of justice system they can get And this how societies end up when they collapse

If she was 15. I must agree with the people.

7:47 Interesting map he has there. 8 years ago.

the irony of his remark during the trial was easy too understand for me, so i guess the reporter knew it too. but it was nice to have news from there, i appreciate. Like VICE News :-)

this journalist risks his life in most cases of filming for the world outside this world he films. respect to you and keep up the amazing content.

I wonder if the liberated people who wanna be under Russia voted for these people judges to pass the sentence. It's not as simple as someone else in the comments had mentioned. This same thing happened in Slovenia after the communist takeover in 1945. People were put to a death sentence for not following orders from the occupied military. If the separatists and their commanders were democratic, they would bring in educated judicial representatives who would have the power to apply the law.

Don't get me wrong rape is a horrible crime, but does it really deserve a death sentence? Or do the local commanders not want to contribute enough resources to imprison the major crimes like rape and murder?

Respect for those Cossacks!

Let me guess, this was in your recommended

This reporter seems like an interesting and likeable character. I've seen a couple of interviews with him, and they've all been great.

My God, what kind of justice is that? Middle age?

This man done made a live-action Town of Salem.

Didn't know ISIS speak Russian!

I don't believe in the death penalty, it goes against all human morals. I truly think that all humans can change.

Absolutely dystopian. We just closed our eyes because it wasn't on a large enough scale

Simon is one of my fav vice reporters. I once commented on a video he did for vice saying I thought it was weak journalism. Sorry Simon, u r the man.

Нашим Украинским "СМИ" есть чему поучиться у настоящего журналиста.

Such logic from soldiers!!!! Thank you Mr Journalist!

Update; the commander (Aleksei) is dead now for around 2-3 weeks.

Thanks god! This series is back :D.

I saw full video of the people's count and Simon failed to ask one of the main question: why there was no advocate in their count? Second man was almost given death sentence and only 6 people difference in vote safed him.

The theme song for the old show " The Peoples Court" with hard piano intro and the bongos...if you are 35 or older you remember...

Looks like the "People's Court" from the Dark Knight Rises. "What say you? Death or exile?"

An interesting map at 7.43..........Is this the intended result if Russia invades?

Jesus Christ, I watched all of these back when it was live, I must've forgotten about 5:21 with the death by firing squad.... That's intense

These are nothing more than modern day warlords.

5:50 that lad seems full of life

the idea is to let the mob decide the guilt, but the pseudo-judge opens the trial by saying "we believe he is guilty"... pretty bad pretending there, my guy. 🙄

who is fighting who... wtf is going on, this world... this world needs WEED! just legalized weed worldwide, let's see Sunni and Shia, Jews and Muslims, Ukranian and Russians just pass joints and the wars are over!

Well, this is not what a court should look like. The man had only ~10 seconds (4:31) to defend himself before he was sentenced to death, with no lawyer assigned to defend him. And 8:04 yes, Mr. Commander, even the most educated people can turn into a mob if they are in certain circumstances as people lose their ability to think when acting in a crowd. While the suspect apparently did commit a rape crime based on the words he uttered, it was entirely possible that the rebel soldiers, eager to show that they are "hard on crimes", tortured the suspect into saying these words. All things are possible when proper court procedures and legal personnel are missing, thanks to the war they created. That being said, when the commander said "let's arrest women in the nightclubs", he was trying to mock the rapist-suspect who thought the woman with whom he apparently had sex with was a "prostitute". It was the suspect, not the commander, who tried to blame the victim is a rape case. So while the "trial" shown in this footage was bad, it was not Islamic-State level of evil. At least he was not trying to blame the victim.

Great advice If you dont want people to commit crimes get them a job.

5:50 the real raw Democracy

Did I read that correctly?! “What a Moran! He needs to b arrested.

5:47 LOL, welcome to Novorossia Vitaly!

7:44 for anyone watching this amid the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in early 2022, this map tells you all you need to know

Суд похож толпы. На попытку связать толпу кровью круговой поруки. Правосудием и не пахло.

holy shit, this is appalling o.O

Map on the wall says it all. 7:46

Talk about due process, eh.

1:37 just seems like very Russian face expression.

wow you wouldnt want to be the only person who didnt raise there hand in that court room, if you want to call it that. You would be the next one standing up the front! What a system!

so sad....

Glory to great commandant Mozgovoy!

2:42 comical. Now you understand the Polish movie Warsaw 1920 was not that far off from reality

The guy talking about justice in the end is a total looney. Peoples court wtf. People are stupid. Why do they think developed countries just don’t let people decide.

The whole 300 jurors thing is a neat concept. But needs a LARGE over haul.

Instead of discussing how to get rid of this mayhem, help Ukraine through donating to their army. If i were them i'd like thermal -and nightvision. Find a page and donate.

is the LPR the same as the DPR? are they on the same side?

It's a mob when you don't agree, it's a jury when you do.

Alas, how far these people have fallen since 1914.

Love your coverage Simon. Second one I've seen. Great job. Looking forward to others. Be safe. Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦.

The guy already looks like a pirate what the hell is up with the flag. You dont need such a negative symbol behind you lol put something a bit more hopeful up dude

I would not imagine about an innocent man in that courts...

definition of a kangaroo court xD

The lunitics are not the leader's, but those who follow him....

Is there a rule if you are a hipster journalist you have to wear a stupid scarf?

Shocking!!!

poor guy like damn

Were going back to the medieval... this world is so fcked up