Syktyvkar: fine for illustrating news

The publisher of the Syktyvkar online magazine "7x7" was sentenced to an administrative fine for illustrating a news article about an extremist crime.

On October 13, 2015, it became known that the Syktyvkar Magistrate Court found the publisher of the online magazine “7x7” guilty under Part 6 of Art. 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (production or release of media products containing public calls for terrorist activities, materials publicly justifying terrorism, or other materials calling for extremist activities) and fined him 15 thousand rubles.

An illustration for the material about the reversal of the acquittal of nationalist Alexei (Kolovrat) Kozhemyakin, who desecrated the Jewish Cultural Center in Syktyvkar, was recognized as an administrative offense: a photograph of an offensive inscription he made on the wall (included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials), next to which a swastika is depicted.

In our opinion, the court's decision is unlawful. By publishing an illustration for the news, the editors did not in any way identify with Kozhemyakin, did not promote his views, but, on the contrary, condemned them, and certainly did not call for any extremist activity. Let us recall that the Supreme Court resolution “On the practice of application by courts of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Mass Media”” dated June 15, 2010 states that “ the court should take into account not only the words and expressions (formulations) used in an article, television or radio program, but also the context in which they were made ."

Sources

• The online magazine “7x7” was fined for using a swastika at the entrance to the Jewish center // FlashNordyu 2015. October 13.