Penza, 3 March 2016. PenzaNews. The illiterate speech of Alexander Tuzov who, among other things, poses himself as the Penza political analyst, became a reason for amusement to local journalists. The gaffes in question came into existence during the recent regional Arbitration Court session over the case by “VolgaInterMedia” that seeks to recover compensation off the individual businessman in question for 74 facts of illegal use of copyrighted work.

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On March 3, members of the media community discussed the wording and phrasing choices by Alexander Tuzov with their colleagues at PenzaNews. As they admitted, they were greatly amused by the phrases he spoke in court: among other things, he mentioned people “recording [rather than writing] in their newspaper,” which is actually an online news agency, and claimed “he is not laying [rather than ‘lying’].”

“And that is the very political analyst [Alexander Tuzov] that is quoted in the publications by the reporter Sergei Petunin, known by his work in ‘Kommersant’ newspaper. Even the local authorities pay their due to Tuzov, invite him to various events and forums, while he, pardon me, speaks of flinging crap while in court! Have you lost your shame, officer? My personal opinion – would like to stress that outright, so that the court-goer who loves to use photos illegally would not be making any claims against me – is that this so-called ‘political analyst’ is able to only piece together the same words, already worn down to nothing, into sentences, and swap them around from time to time for some variety. As a result, his petty articles – no other word comes for them – are so plain and boring, and the topics he chooses also grew to annoy me quite a bit. Honestly! Nothing personal! I am not laying!” one of the reporters said sarcastically.

Another representative of the media community, who had known Alexander Tuzov for a long time and asked to remain unknown “so as not to hurt the opinion of the Penza political analyst extraordinaire to my person.” pointed out that the aforementioned phrases said in court were used by him on March 2, the 85th anniversary of Mikhail Gorbachev, the first and only president of the Soviet Union who also became known for his unorthodox choice of words during his presidency.

The media representative likened the expressions in question to Mikhail Zadornov’s famous parody on Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, which other journalists found hilarious.

“I say what I think. Just like others say what they think of me, or even say when they don’t think. Why can’t I say when I think?” the journalist quoted Mikhail Gorbachev himself, eliciting another round of laughter.

“On a more serious note, If I were in Alexander Vladislavovich [Tuzov]’s shoes, I would have admitted my loss in a worthy manner – specifically in a worthy manner – a long time ago, shaken hands with my opponents, reviewed my plans for life in retirement and asked myself a question: ‘Do I really need to do what I am doing now?’ Maybe going to Moscow would be better? The city’s bigger, and the senator [Vasily Bochkarev, former Penza region governor] is closer there. In addition, according to Tuzov himself, they are speaking – even held a phone call recently, discussed the latter’s 1-million-ruble court case versus ‘Express’ media company after Yuri Shevchuk’s photos were publised on ‘Penza-Press’ website. Not a bad option in the current situation, if you ask me,” the media representative summed up.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, in January 2016, “VolgaInterMedia” initiated a case in the Penza region Arbitration Court against the individual businessman Alexander Tuzov on recovery of compensation of 3 million rubles overall for illegal use of copyrighted photos on two websites.

The first preliminary court hearing took place on February 8. Even though the accused party had been addressed a hearing summons containing the date and time of the hearing, and a request of arbitration, neither he nor his representative appeared in the court.

At the same time, the complainant presented a package of documents in confirmation of illegal use of copyrighted work by the accused party.

As a result, the court decided to postpone the preliminary hearing to March 2.

Alexander Tuzov petitioned to familiarize with materials of the case on February 9.

On the evening of the same day, the PenzaNews editor-in-chief Pavel Polosion, who earlier suggested that Alexander Tuzov was likely to play victim, received a text message on his personal mobile phone with an offer to “settle the issue out of court.”

On February 15, the president of “VolgaInterMedia” Ivan Malikov met with Alexander Tuzov on the latter’s initiative, and offered him to settle the issue out of court for half the amount, with an option to pay it in installments; however, the Alexander Tuzov declined, saying he does not have the money.

On the next day, Ivan Malikov expressed an opinion that the failure of out-of-court settlement talks forced the administrator of “Alexander Tuzov’s Blog” to delete his LiveJournal account. The president of “VolgaInterMedia” said he welcomes the decision, although it will not help the blogger in question escape the liability.

In late February, the complainant updated the claims to Alexander Tuzov and listed 74 facts of illegal use of photos instead of 60, for the same expected compensation amount of 3 million rubles.

During the preliminary court session on March 2, Alexander Tuzov claimed that he is not the owner of “Alexander Tuzov’s Blog” in LiveJournal, which had been removed in February 2016. The aforementioned blog contained provocative information that concerned such people as some of the high-ranking officials of the Penza region.

On the evening of the same day, Sergei Padalkin, head of the press service in the CPRF Penza region committee, expressed his opinion over the court session by posting “Neighborhood fool shows himself in Arbitration Court today” in his Twitter.

The next preliminary court session is scheduled for April 6.