Nationalism and Xenophobia in September 2019

SOVA Center is aware of hate-motivated attacks, in which four individuals were injured, in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, in September 2019. Since the beginning of the year, five people have been killed, and 31 injured, in racist violence, while another two people have been subjected to credible death threats on similar grounds. These incidents have taken place in 15 regions of Russia.

This month also saw two cases of ideologically motivated desecration of religious buildings and monuments. Since the beginning of 2019, we know of 17 cases of ideologically motivated vandalism in 14 regions of the country.

Nationalists’ public activities were quite noticeable in September.

Several far-right-wing figures tried to get onto the ballot in the Moscow City Duma elections held on September 8. These included Right Bloc representatives Vladimir Burmistrov and Dmitry Golikov; as well as Elena Rokhlina and Nadezhda Kvachkova, both of whom are affiliated with the Permanent Council of National-Patriotic Forces of Russia (PDS NPSR); and former Rodina Party member Alexander Bosykh, who is now a supporter of the National-Conservative Movement (NKD). None of them was featured in the final list of candidates. The sole well-known nationalist who participated in the ballot was Nadezhda Shalimova, a member of the unregistered National Democratic Party (NDP); she lost the vote.

Among the traditional nationalist actions the only one worthy of mention was the rally In Memory of Victims of Ethnic Crime and Putin’s Migration Policy, held on September 29 in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The rallies were led by activists from the Nation and Freedom Committee (KNS). Both rallies were held at the sites of terrorist acts: the Avtozavodskaya Metro station in Moscow, and the Tekhnologichesky Institut Metro station in St. Petersburg.

Also on September 29, several groups of nationalists participated in a city-sanctioned meeting organized by the Moscow Libertarian Party in support of political prisoners on Sakharov Prospekt. Nation and Freedom Committee activists shouted slogans in support of Black Bloc leaders Vladimir Ratnikov and Artem Vorobyov, while the Right Bloc stood practically against the stage with posters demanding an end to the persecution of Ivan Beletsky. Also present at the Sakharov meeting were members of the ANS and the Russian United National Alliance (RONA), as well as Georgy Borovikov, a former leader of the “Russians” movement and the Pamyat National-Patriotic Front, who did six years in prison for the assault, robbery and torture of a “comrade” and was released on September 20.

On September 1, nine activists from the Right Bloc participated in a climate protest in Sokolniky Park entitled We Live Here which was dominated by left-wing organizations. By SOVA Center’s estimate, about 400 people attended.

SOVA Center is not aware of any September 2019 court decisions in respect of racist violence that considered the hate motive. Since the beginning of the year, Russian courts have delivered six such rulings against 10 individuals.

There were no fewer than three convictions on the basis of xenophobic statements this September, in three regions of Russia. One case used Article 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls to extremist activity), while two others were charged under Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code (justification of terrorism) in connection with radical Islamist publications. Unfortunately, we have not been able to review the underlying materials in any of these cases, so cannot comment on whether the charges were proper. Additionally, two other rulings were canceled in light of the partial decriminalization of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred). Since the beginning of the year, racist and other unconstitutional statements have formed the basis of charges in 82 court cases, in which 91 people were convicted in 44 regions of Russia.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated twice this month, on September 13 and 27 to account for new entries 4950-4953. The new listed materials include xenophobic video clips featuring calls to attack “enemies of the white race” as well as an Islamist video featuring calls to jihad.

No fewer than six people were fined under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (incitement to national hatred), which was formerly listed under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code. Five people were charged in connection with various xenophobic video clips and social media comments. Among those fined in September was journalist and CSKA Moscow supporter Andrei Malosolov, who called black Brazilian ex-Spartak player Luiz Adriano a “monkey” on Twitter.

According to our findings, no fewer than 12 people were fined under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda and public demonstration of Nazi symbols and symbols of banned organizations). Five individuals were charged for social media posts featuring Nazi symbols. Four others, who are already serving time in penal colonies, were charged in connection with displaying their tattoos, which featured Nazi symbols. Three young people were also charged in connection with full Nazi costumes, including a vintage German motorcycle, during the event Opening of the Motoseason 2019.

Twelve people were fined under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (manufacture and distribution of banned materials). These sanctions arose in light of social media posts featuring songs by the ultra-right-wing group Kolovrat, Chechen bard Timur Mutsuraev, and other unspecified items listed in the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

The data regarding criminal and administrative cases does not include court decisions we find to be patently abusive. Unfortunately, our data is incomplete, especially with respect to the Code of Administrative Offenses cases.