The case against a Moscow IT specialist accused of inciting religious hatred has been dropped

The case against IT-specialist Roman Matveev from Domodedovo near Moscow, who was accused of inciting hatred and enmity for publishing religious demotivators on a city forum, has been dismissed. According to the Information and Analytical Center "Sova", the Domodedovo City Court decided to dismiss the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Among the demotivators published by Matveev in the “Orthodoxy”, “ROC (in comics)” and “Atheism” threads was a photograph of Patriarch Kirill with a quote from his speech, as well as an image of a man with a bandage on his head and the Koran in his hand, accompanied by the caption “You do not believe that Islam is a religion of peace and love? Then we go to you". The case was initiated at the request of a forum visitor named Yury Zotov, who felt that the demotivators offended his religious feelings. However, the case was initiated under Art. 282, not 148 of the Criminal Code (violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion). According to investigators, demotivators are aimed "at inciting hatred and enmity, as well as humiliating the dignity of a group of people on the basis of their attitude to religion, expressing and showing negative assessments of attitudes, expressions of an offensive nature in relation to religious groups - Orthodox and Muslims, comparing them with fascists, expressing hatred, hostility, cynicism, thereby propagating the call for a violent reaction from religious groups.

While the investigation was ongoing, Matveev was included in the "List of organizations and individuals in respect of which there is information about their involvement in extremist activities or terrorism", in connection with which he was deprived of the opportunity to perform any financial transactions. The inclusion in the list was appealed, but the Domodedovo City Court dismissed the complaint.