The Prosecutor's Office of St. Petersburg on extremist crimes in the city

On July 3, 2007, the report of St. Petersburg Prosecutor Sergei Zaitsev on extremist crimes in the city, made by him at the board of the General Prosecutor's Office on July 26, 2007, was published.

In particular, the prosecutor noted that for a long time the city lacked any system to combat this type of crime: “there was no analytical work, there was no uniform approach to assessing the situation.” Only recently have efforts been made to coordinate the actions of various government bodies in this area (probably the starting point here should be considered the memo that became public, addressed to Valentina Matvienko, dated December 30, 2005 - ed. ). In particular, the prosecutor's report mentions the creation of an interdepartmental working group to combat extremism, which, in addition to representatives of the prosecutor's office, included representatives from the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the FSB Directorate, the State Drug Control Department (UFSKN), the Customs Regional Administration (SZTU), the Regional Transport Police Department (SZUVDT), as well as the Office of Rosokhrankultura, the Committee on Legality, Law and Order and Security of the City Government. Accordingly, an exchange of information on the problem has been established between all these bodies. For example, the Committee on Law, Order and Security of the City Government regularly sends information to the city prosecutor’s office about announced public events, the participants of which are extremist public organizations; the Committee on the Press and Interaction with the Media carries out monthly monitoring of printed materials characterizing the state of interethnic and interfaith relations in the city, etc.

To investigate extremist crimes, back in 2005, a permanent investigative and operational group was created from employees of the prosecutor’s office and operational employees of the 18th department of the Organized Crime Control Department at the Central Internal Affairs Directorate.

As a successful practice in countering extremist crimes, S. Zaitsev’s speech noted the practice of systematic meetings between the leadership of the city prosecutor’s office and district prosecutors with foreign students, representatives of national diasporas and consulates, and conducting prosecutorial inspections of government bodies. The speech mentioned various city programs. which, in the opinion of the prosecutor, should contribute to the cultivation of tolerance among young people (for example, the “Program of Patriotic Education of Youth”, “Program for the Prevention of Manifestations of Xenophobia”, etc.).

In addition, statistical data on various extremist crimes over the past year and a half were announced.

Criminal proceedings :

During 2006 and the first half of 2007, about 30 publications of an extremist nature were identified. Based on the results of checks of these publications, 16 criminal cases were initiated under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (in particular, criminal cases regarding the distribution of the “Book of Monotheism” and the RNE newspaper “Evpatiy Kolovrat”, a criminal case against “Orthodox Russia” ). Moreover, 6 of these cases were initiated in 2007.

In 2007, 5 crimes related to racist and neo-Nazi violence were solved. Among them, in particular, are named:

• two explosions (at McDonald's and at a flower stall near the Vladimirskaya metro station). Four people were arrested in this case.

• murder and attempted murder of immigrants from Uzbekistan in February 2007 , as well as beatings of a citizen of Cameroon and a citizen of Moldova . These episodes, combined into one case, involve 7 St. Petersburg residents who consider themselves to be members of the “Movement against Illegal Immigration” (DPNI).

• a series of 13 grave and especially grave crimes in 2003-2006, committed by the Borovikov-Voevodina group . There are currently 18 people involved in the case.

Other measures.

In the first half of 2007, the St. Pereburg Prosecutor's Office issued 3 warnings to editors of printed publications about the inadmissibility of carrying out extremist activities (warnings were issued on the recommendation of Rosokhrankultura).

Also in the first half of 2007, at the request of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the city prosecutor's office identified 12 resources that the prosecutor's office considered extremist and issued orders to cease their activities. As a result, 4 resources were closed, information on 8 was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation “to take measures on territoriality.”

An automated information retrieval system "Extremist" has been created. It is not entirely clear on what basis this database is filled in, but it is likely that its functioning is due to the fact that, by decision of the board of the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office dated March 31, 2006, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate systematized information about youth organizations in the city, “their activities are focused on constant control of operational units." At the same time, as noted in the report, “all district prosecutors have established a record of minors belonging to informal youth associations, as well as the offenses they have committed.”

In 2007, the prosecutor's office issued 37 warnings, representations and warnings about the inadmissibility of extremist activities. In particular, a warning was issued to the head of RNE (unfortunately, it is not clear from the report who exactly, Alexander Barkashov or one of the local leaders - ed. ). The materials on RNE were sent to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation to resolve the issue of suspending the activities of this organization on the territory of the Russian Federation. A warning was also issued to the NBP, which became one of the grounds for banning the party. (We note that, unfortunately, we do not know exactly to whom these warnings were issued. And, accordingly, we cannot judge their legality. However, what is alarming is the fact that S. Zaitsev’s report especially emphasizes that “such measures in anticipation of the so-called “dissent marches.” As a result of the work done, mass extremist actions were prevented." This leads to the assumption that not all of the acts passed were lawful - ed. ).

Sources

• Report of the Prosecutor of St. Petersburg at a meeting of the board of the State Prosecutor of the Russian Federation on July 26, 2007 // Official website of the Prosecutor's Office of St. Petersburg. 2007. August 3.