Translated material
Chronicle of Runet filtering No. 41 October 17-21, 2016
In the Tyumen region, the FSB forces the media to provide incriminating materials against a blogger
On October 13, 2016, it became known that the FSB directorate for the Tyumen region appealed to a number of Ural media with a request to help provide assistance in finding charges against the blogger, permanent author of the Algorithm publishing house Alexei Kungurov: “to provide the investigation with his articles, which contain public insults to government officials and other information that law enforcement and regulatory authorities need to pay attention to."
Kungurov has been under arrest for several months in Tyumen as a defendant under Part 2 of Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code (public calls for terrorist activities or public justification of terrorism). The reason for the accusation was Kungurov’s article “Who are Putin’s Falcons Really Bombing” published on his personal blog. According to Kungurov, the claims are related to his claims that Russia is not bombing the territories of the Islamic State, but is helping it. The article is an analysis of the internal situation in the Middle East and does not contain, from the point of view of SOVA Center experts, any calls for terrorism. The Memorial human rights center recognized Kungurov as a political prisoner.
The wording of the FSB request cannot be considered a legal requirement from the point of view of existing legislation. However, since Kungurov is accused under one of the anti-terrorism articles of the Criminal Code, failure to report similar acts may result in liability for “failure to report a crime of a terrorist nature” under the new article. 205.6 of the Criminal Code, introduced as part of the implementation of the “Yarovaya package”. The SOVA Center opposed the adoption of the Yarovaya package; the amendments included in it could lead to a significant violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens and are generally aimed at intimidating society.
A resident of the Teikovsky district was punished for publishing the audiobook “Good News from God”
In October 2016, we learned that on September 9, 2016, the Teikovsky District Court of the Ivanovo Region fined a local resident 1 thousand rubles under Art. 20.29 Code of Administrative Offenses (storage of extremist materials for the purpose of mass distribution). The decision was not appealed and came into force on September 20. A 20-year-old resident of the area was punished for posting the audiobook “Good News from God” on his page on the social network VKontakte on September 1, 2016. The printed version of this brochure of Jehovah's Witnesses was recognized as extremist by the Leninsky District Court of Vladimir in 2013 and included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials under number 2224.
The SOVA Center considers the ban on the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist and the persecution of believers for distributing it to be unlawful; these actions of the authorities should be regarded as religious discrimination.
The Supreme Court did not accept Polyudova’s cassation appeal for consideration
On October 19, 2016, it became known that the Supreme Court of Russia did not accept for consideration the cassation appeal of Kuban activist Daria Polyudova against the verdict under Part 2 of Art. 280.1 of the Criminal Code (public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, committed using the Internet) and Part. 1 and 2 tbsp. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities, including those committed using the Internet). The decision to refuse to transfer Polyudova’s cassation appeal was made on September 22, 2016 by judge Vladimir Rusakov.
In December 2015, Polyudova was sentenced by the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar to two years in prison to be served in a penal colony with deprivation of the right to engage in teaching activities and work in the media. In March 2016, the regional court approved this decision. In early October, Polyudova filed a complaint against the verdict with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
A criminal case against Polyudova was opened in August 2014 after an attempt by Krasnodar activists to organize a “March for the federalization of Kuban.” In September of the same year, Polyudova was arrested and in February 2015 released on her own recognizance. She was charged under Part 2 of Art. 280.1 of the Criminal Code for republishing on the social network VKontakte an entry that ethnic Ukrainians in the Kuban are demanding annexation to Ukraine, under Part 1 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code for a photo of a picket with a poster “Not a war with Ukraine, but a revolution in Russia”, under Part 2 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code for publishing a call to go to the square and overthrow the regime.
The SOVA Center believes that the criminal prosecution of Polyudova was partly unlawful, partly disproportionate, and, accordingly, the sentence imposed on her was also unlawful.
A court in Magnitogorsk blocked two groups on social networks calling for a boycott of the elections
In October 2016, it became known that on September 16, 2016, the Pravoberezhny District Court of Magnitogorsk decided to block groups on the VKontakte social network under the names “Boycott the Elections!” and "Free Russia. Free Magnitogorsk". The content of the groups was recognized by the court as prohibited information.
The communities were blocked at the request of the district prosecutor, who received materials from the Russian FSB department for the Chelyabinsk region. In the group “Free Russia. Free Magnitka”, an FSB detective discovered an article by Boris Stomakhin “Crimea is Ukraine”, the texts “Total boycott of Putin’s “elections” 2016”, “We live in a time of great changes”, “Russia will not only return Donbass and Crimea " and "Justice cannot be drowned out", images with the inscriptions "The system is your enemy", "Fuhrer of the Fourth Reich", "People believe everything", "Right Sector" and "Right Sector - Azov".
In the "Boycott the Elections!" community An article by Yuri Gimmelfarb “Do you still believe in fairy tales?”, an article by Vladislav Yusupov “I am joining the boycott of elections”, material by Daria Polyudova, beginning with the words “In the elections...”, texts beginning with the words “Think about it” were published , what really is”, “Here is an example of the correct attitude”, “39% of Russians agree”, “The purpose of the performance”, “I’ve been saying this for years”, “General total boycott of elections”, as well as images with the inscriptions “I’m boycotting these elections", "If in the elections", "Right Sector", "Boycott elections without choice", "Don't be fooled! Don't go to the polls."
The court found that all these materials “ contain signs of public calls for extremist activities, there are statements of a propaganda nature in order to popularize the idea of boycotting elections among the Russian population, and are also aimed at obstructing the legitimate activities of government bodies, disrupting election commissions during the elections to the State Duma Russian Federation ".
Among the materials found in the groups there are prohibited distribution symbols of the Right Sector, an organization recognized as extremist in Russia. In addition, these communities published text and graphic works with aggressive appeals that were not included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials: an article by Stomakhin (for the publication of which, in particular, Tver resident Andrei Bubeev was previously convicted), the image “The System is Your Enemy” with a scene of violence in relation to a police officer, as well as materials “Justice cannot be drowned out,” calling for armed resistance in Russia, and “Russia will not only return Donbass and Crimea,” in which one can see approval of ethnic cleansing.
However, in other materials, including in all the texts found in the “Boycott the Elections!” group, SOVA Center experts were unable to detect any aggressive calls. For the most part, they only contain calls to boycott the elections of September 18, 2016. Since the constitutionally protected right of Russian citizens to elect government bodies is not their responsibility, limiting the debate regarding the advisability of participating in elections constitutes an attack on freedom of speech. Therefore, the SOVA Center considers the decision of the Magnitogorsk court to be partially unlawful.
Shamil Kazakov, who complained about discrimination in the police, was finally acquitted under Art. 282 CC
On October 21, 2016, the Tver Regional Court upheld the sentence imposed on Shamil Kazakov, who was accused of inciting hatred towards the social group “police officers of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tver Region” (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a government official (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) ). The decision of the Proletarsky District Court of Tver to assign Kazakov 10 months of correctional labor under Art. 319 of the Criminal Code and the dismissal of charges under Art. 282 was declared legal. This was reported by the international human rights group "Agora" with reference to lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina.
Kazakov became a defendant in a criminal case for insulting a government official in March 2016 in connection with posting comments addressed to the head of the department for working with personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Tver Region under a video he published online about discrimination on national and religious grounds when hiring for police. . Charge under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code was added on May 21. The verdict was handed down by the district court on August 11, 2016.
The SOVA Center welcomes Kazakov's acquittal under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, since they believe that this accusation was unfounded. Kazakov's statements concerned specific individuals, and not police officers in general. In addition, police officers are not among the vulnerable groups requiring protection in the form of anti-extremist legislation, and the unclear concept of a social group is generally a source of abuse and should be excluded from anti-extremist articles.
Recently, there have been more and more cases of prosecutors' offices in different regions of Russia filing lawsuits to restrict access to anonymizers. As a rule, prosecutors justify their demands by the fact that with the help of such services Internet users can access extremist materials. Anonymizers themselves do not contain prohibited information, and the SOVA Center considers decisions to block them unlawful.
On September 1, 2016, the prosecutor's office of the Ulyanovsk region reported that the prosecutor's office of the Ulyanovsk region had identified six anonymizers (including "p...y", "a...m.pro", etc.), which provide access to any sites previously blocked in connection with the posting of extremist materials on them. According to the department, users of services can view “information about the inferiority of citizens based on their nationality, language and religion, without leaving data about their real location and IP address” and without registering on the site, which “contributes to inciting interethnic and interreligious hatred and enmity." The prosecutor's office sent applications to the court to declare the information posted on these six sites prohibited. On October 21, 2016, from a new message from the prosecutor’s office, it became known that the court blocked these anonymizers.
Sanctions against Internet providers
Recently, demands for telecom operators to block sites containing “extremist materials” have become more frequent. Sometimes these requirements also apply to the websites of religious organizations and groups. Sova believes that such actions are often unlawful.
On October 18, 2016, the prosecutor's office of the Chechen Republic reported that the Achkhoy-Martan interdistrict prosecutor filed a lawsuit seeking an obligation for Internet providers to restrict access to an Internet page with materials that "offend the religious feelings of believers."
On October 21, 2016, the prosecutor's office of the Chechen Republic reported that the deputy prosecutor of the Gudermes district filed a lawsuit seeking the obligation of Internet providers to limit access to materials on the Internet that “offend the religious feelings of believers.”
It is unclear what materials are being referred to, but it does not follow from the messages that they are included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials.
SOVA experts believe that suppressing the dissemination of materials that “offend the feelings of believers” creates a significant threat to freedom of speech, and also conflicts with Russian legislation: none of the Russian laws speaks of a ban on the dissemination of such materials as such, but the courts did not consider relevant criminal cases of insulting the feelings of believers, which could have resulted in a ban on the distribution of materials.