Amic.ru reader convicted, news agency editors receive representation

In December 2013 in Barnaul, for commenting on the news of Amitel news agency ( amic.ru ) "Gennady Zyuganov condemned the "powerful and cynical mental attack on Orthodoxy" the reader was convicted under part 2 of article 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities committed with the use of mass media). elimination of violations of the legislation on countering extremism for quoting this comment in the article.
In December 2013, the Central District Court of Barnaul issued a sentence under Part 2 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for the implementation of extremist activities, committed using the media). For commenting on the news of Amitel news agency ("Gennady Zyuganov condemned the "powerful and cynical mental attack on Orthodoxy"), the Internet user was sentenced to 10 months in prison (conditionally) with a probationary period of 11 months.

The SOVA Center was able to get acquainted with the text of the comment, which served as a pretext for to initiate criminal proceedings. Literally see the elements of a crime in it possible (the commentator calls for drowning all Christians in the ocean). However, we note that we are unable to assess the context of the publication (other posts by the same author, discussion in the comments). Given the prevailing nature of online discussions, such a call should not be seen as a real attempt public incitement (not to mention the fact that the implementation such a call is generally unbelievable).

On May 23, 2014, the prosecutor of Barnaul submitted a proposal to the news agency to eliminate violations of the law on countering extremism. The reason for the submission was the article "A comment published by amic.ru reader formed the basis of a criminal case", in which the editor-in-chief of the news agency "Amitel" cited the text of the seditious comment.

The editors hid the comment and removed it from the text of the article, however, considered the submission made to it unreasonable.

Indeed, the prosecutor's submission states that the re-publication of the comment created " a threat of inciting social, racial, national hatred and extremist activities " and it is required " to resolve the issue of bringing the perpetrators to disciplinary responsibility ." Note that none of the enumerated types of hatred was provoked by the commentary. In addition, as the editor-in-chief of the news agency rightly noted, " the motives for disseminating information were aimed at highlighting the results of the case, and not at inciting enmity and discord, " and the goal " was just to prevent such violations on the part of readers (commentators) in the future . " The phrase was cited as an example of actions that could lead to criminal punishment, the editors did not stand in solidarity with the commentator and did not promote his views. In addition, a submission demanding a disciplinary sanction came only in May 2014, and in accordance with Art. 193 of the Labor Code, a disciplinary sanction may be imposed no later than six months from the date of the misconduct. More than 7 months have passed since the publication of the article.

Sources

• The comment of amic.ru reader was recognized as extremist: the prosecutor demanded to punish the editor-in-chief // IA "Amitel". 2014. May 23.