In Karachay-Cherkessia, an article about Andropov’s memo was recognized as extremist

In Cherkessk, an article from the newspaper “Top Secret”, which talks about an internal memo by the KGB chairman about the situation in Karachay-Cherkessia in 1980, has been recognized as extremist material.

On September 4, 2015, the prosecutor's office of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic reported that the Cherkessk City Court satisfied the claim of the republican prosecutor's office and recognized the article "Internationalism" in Karachay style" published in the paper and online versions of the newspaper "Top Secret" as extremist material.

The court agreed with the arguments of the prosecutor's office that this article " contains statements aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, as well as humiliating the dignity of a person or group of persons on the basis of nationality, committed in public ."

The article by Vladimir Voronov “Internationalism in Karachay style”, published in No. 9 “Top Secret” for 2015 (and posted on the newspaper’s website on March 23, 2015), was published in the “History” section and is a historical essay. This material analyzes the official a note by the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Andropov dated December 9, 1980 “On negative processes in the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region” and some conclusions are drawn about the limited capabilities of the KGB and the failure of Soviet national policy. The author cites numerous quotes from the document on the growth of national tension in the republic and. increasing hostility towards Russians on the part of the Karachays, including those that actually contain “statements aimed at inciting hatred and enmity.” However, these statements belong to anonymous criminals (the quote describes cases of hooligan behavior, mass fights, etc.), and the attitude. the drafters of the document clearly marked them with the phrase “ accompanied by cynical statements and outcries .”

Obviously, the prosecutor's office and the court in Karachay-Cherkessia are trying to remove from public access any information that does not correspond to the official image of the inhabitants of their republic. In this case, the steps they took are clearly illegal: the “Top Secret” material contains no signs of extremism. Let us recall that citing various kinds of radical statements is necessary for publications on historical topics, especially if these publications include documents. Let us recall that the Supreme Court ruling on media regulation from 2010 clearly states that citations cannot be imputed to the author of the publication.

Sources

• In the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the court declared prohibited information of an extremist nature posted on the Internet and in the newspaper “Top Secret” // Website of the prosecutor’s office of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. 2015. September 15.