An episode from the famous documentary project Term, filmed in August 2012, at the height of the crackdown following the Bolotnaya Square protests (anti-government demonstrations in Moscow). In the video, Alexei and his colleagues discover a hidden listening device installed behind the baseboard in the ACF office, while the investigators who arrive predictably try to ban the filming of their “work.” This clip vividly illustrates both the constant pressure from the security services under which the team had to operate and Alexei’s trademark irony about the total inefficiency of the state machine.
Text version
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Between the two, between the two, come on.
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Where did they all go?
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Let's start. But it ends up being the other side.
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Well, you drive like this along Nelayanskaya.
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We're starting from below.
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You're doing really well.
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Are you inspecting the whole office?
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Yes. From the bottom. We'll figure it out. I'll call. I...
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I'll call and come over.
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That's it.
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Right.
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Uh-huh. It turned out very well.
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Thank you.
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Right,
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oh
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Navalny found a listening
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device there.
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Well, we came here to document
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this.
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So? So? I called,
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they photographed it before it was seized
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Bastrykin is already calling, asking what happened to
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his Czech device.
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Andrei,
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paranoid Andrei came in and brought a detector
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for the field
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together with paranoid Zhora. They
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found the source of the field, removed the baseboard,
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and, well, just for fun, actually,
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moved the cabinet, took off the baseboard, and
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found it.
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So, our workday is slightly wrecked.
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And where did they find it? Where exactly is it?
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Ah, there. Zhor, show them.
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Here's the wire.
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Uh-huh.
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Here's the microphone at the end.
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And it goes into the wall. There is most likely
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well, some kind of transmitting
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device there.
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Or this wire goes into this black thing here
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.
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It's completely unclear what
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to be honest, I thought they hid them better.
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Well, I mean, I assume there are
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many more of them here, but
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the state's inefficiency shows up
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in absolutely everything, even in
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planting bugs.
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So, regarding your camera as well, unfortunately,
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under the law, if this is
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a crime scene, yes, we are required
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to cordon it off and remove unauthorized persons. As the crime scene,
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we can designate this area here,
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since this is my office, I am interested
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in having everything recorded. This camera
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will stay. You're interested in that, yes? But this
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will become part of the criminal case materials and
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will be subject to disclosure, so unfortunately,
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you may be present, but the inspection of the
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crime scene is an investigative procedure.
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We're not arguing, let's leave it then.
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Turn off the cameras.
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And as I understand it, these are employees of your
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office, right?
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They are employees.
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The operatives will be questioning them now,
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then everyone who is present here,
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please turn off the camera.
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Police officers are standing there.
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Listen, I insist that
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video recording continue in my office. This is
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my office. You are removing a device
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that I discovered. I insist, because
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later, when once again you
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issue me a refusal to open a case
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order, I will present you with
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video evidence that everything really was
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seized. Therefore I insist that
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there be video recording.
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I explained the situation to you. You may insist
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all you want, but we are against it.
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All right, I'm taking photos here—are you going to seize
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my mobile phone too?
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Yes.
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But that's illegal. Come on, Major.
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There is no disobedience here whatsoever.
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You yourself are making unlawful demands of me
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and demanding that I
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comply with them. If my demands are unlawful, you can file
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a complaint against me.
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I think we're arguing right now
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for no reason.
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Why so polite, so polite?
4:01
Well, how is that polite?
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Go ahead, you can come through.
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Me?
4:05
No.
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Navalny's, right? Uh-huh.
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And what are the initials?
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Navalny's?
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Uh-huh.
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I have no idea.