Brochure of Mari priest recognized as extremist

On August 8, 2007, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court ruled that Vitaly Tanakov's brochure Onaen Oila (The Priest Speaks) was extremist literature. The prosecutor of the city of Yoshkar-Ola saw in the brochure signs of incitement to hatred and hostility, as well as humiliation of the dignity of a group of people on the grounds of nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion, as well as belonging to any social group. In addition, in his statement, the prosecutor referred to the fact that in December 2006 the author of the publication was convicted by the Yoshkar-Ola City Court under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("inciting national and religious hatred").

Sergey Poduzov, co-chairman of the regional public organization "Man and Law" commented on the decision of the court. According to the understanding of the Mari priest Tanakov, he cannot confess. The worldview that was passed on to him by his ancestors means wrong. The brochures that are currently in the hands of people must be destroyed, otherwise the person will be held responsible for their storage, provided for by law. "It is obvious that the state is consistently trying to fight Vitaly Tanakov's dissent in the Republic of Mari El. This decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mari El, as it violates human rights and affects the rights of more than 40% of the inhabitants of the Republic of Mari El."

In June, the Yoshkar-Ola city court decided to terminate the proceedings on the case of recognizing V. Tanakov's pamphlet as extremist literature, but the Yoshkar-Ola prosecutor's office appealed this decision.

Sources

• The Yoshkar-Ola court recognized the pamphlet of a Mari priest as extremist literature // All-Russian Civil Congress. 2007. August 9.