Racism and Xenophobia in May 2016

In May 2016, no fewer than 5 individuals fell victim to racist and neo-Nazi attacks in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and the Primorsky Krai. According to our preliminary data, one person has been killed and no fewer than 24 injured, while 2 received serious threats on their lives, in ten regions of Russia so far this year.

We also noted no fewer than 4 acts of vandalism that could be considered as motivated by hatred. These were in Saint Petersburg, the Arkhangelsk and Kemerovo regions, and the Republic of Karelia. Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded at least 16 such instances of ideologically-motivated vandalism in 13 regions of the country.

As usual, the most notable event this May was the Russian Mayday. The march, which was organized by the Russian Action Coalition (RKD), began at the Oktyabrskoe Pole Metro stop and proceeded to the Schukinskaya stop. According to Sova Center's observers, the march drew 88 participants.

Additionally, about 50 representatives of the National Liberation Movement (NOD) marched in a column with participants of a demonstration on Red Square that was organized by the Russian Federation of Independent Labor Unions (FNPR).

And on Samotechnaya Square, at a Mayday of Progressive Leftists demonstration, Dmitry “Enteo” Tsorionov, the leader of the God's Will movement, showed up with supporters to “break up a gay parade.” Police prevented them from getting to the demonstration.

All in all, under the Russian Mayday brand, events were held in another 6 cities in Russia (about the same as last year), with the majority of them drawing few participants.

But in a few cities, nationalists held demonstrations on the May 2 anniversary of events in Odessa in 2014. In Moscow, Igor Strelkov's January 25 Committee held a demonstration on Suvorovskaya Square and laid flowers at the Alexander Garden. Between 250-350 people participated. Aside from that, events with low turnout were held in Saint Petersburg, Voronezh, and the Krasnodar region.

We became aware of three guilty verdicts against five individuals in cases of racist violence where the court accounted for the hate motive. They were in Tatarstan and the Saratov and Stavropol regions.

Since the beginning of 2016, Sova Center has counted no fewer than 9 such convictions against 16 individuals, in 9 regions of Russia.

There was only one conviction for xenophobically motivated vandalism this May. In Vyatskie Polyany in the Kirov region, a vandal who hacked up a cross was sentenced to one year of restricted liberty.

In all, since the beginning of 2016, we are aware of 4 rulings related to xenophobic vandalism, against 5 individuals in the Vladimir, Vologda, and Kirov regions, as well as the Republic of Tatarstan.

There were at least 21 convictions for xenophobic propaganda, with 32 individuals convicted in 20 regions of Russia this month. One notable case treated ten members of the ultra-right group Attack in Moscow's Ziuzinsky Court. Each defendant was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist network); paragraph “v” of Part 2 of Article 282 (incitement of hatred or hostility commited by an organized group); and Part 1 of Article 222 (the illegal purchase, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of weapons or ammunition). They all received suspended sentences. Earlier in the case, two other members had already been sentenced: one to two years; the other, group founder Vladimir Kudryashov, was detained in the Luhansk National Republic in Ukraine on order by the Investigative Committee, and was sentenced to a year in a penal colony.

A case that drew significant media attention was the two-year, three-month sentence handed to Andrey Bubeev of Tver for the publication on social media site VKontakte of materials the court found to be incitements to extremism and threatening to the territorial integrity of the country. It is Sova Center's position that this ruling was partially improper and excessive, even taking into account that this is the second ruling against Bubeev (the first of which was also at least partially improper).

But Bubeev was not the sole individual sentenced to real punitive measures in response to speech in May 2016. According to our data for the month, there were at least two other such excessive rulings, in the Vladimir and Krasnodar regions. All in all, 9 individuals were sentenced to prison terms (two of whom were already in prison and simply received extensions to their terms; while four others were sentenced not only for propaganda but also under violent crimes articles).

Since the beginning of 2016 in total, Russian courts have convicted 96 individuals in 83 xenophobic propaganda cases in 49 regions of the country.

This month, the Federal List of Extremist Materials was extended 8 times (on May 4, 5, 6, 16, 18, 23, 24, 25), with the addition of entries 3407-3522. New additions include: Russian nationalist xenophobic materials of a broad range, including various neo-Nazi materials from VKontakte and the film “Eternal Jew” (included on the List in ten points in a row with different Internet links); video clips from the Siberia-Ukrainian Movement; the article “The Country Should Know Its “Heroes”: An Open List of the Enemies of Orthodoxy, 203 Names”; electronic publications of Jehovah's Witnesses pamphlets; various Islamist materials from video-incitements to jihad to songs by Timur Mutsuraev, and articles outlining the history of the Taliban.

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