The defense of Tatar human rights activist Kashapov filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against the article on separatism

Chairman of the Naberezhnye Chelny branch of the Tatar Public Center Rafis Kashapov, sentenced to three years in prison for publications on the social network VKontakte condemning the actions of the Russian authorities in connection with the events in Crimea and on the territory of Ukraine, filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for calls for separatism, even if they do not contain calls for violence. This was reported by the Vedomosti newspaper with reference to lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev, who represents Kashapov in court.

Kashapov’s representative sent a complaint to the Constitutional Court by mail; it has not yet been registered in the Constitutional Court database.

The applicants note in the complaint that under Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code, since its entry into force in May 2014, six people have been sentenced to imprisonment, and one was sent for compulsory treatment. In particular, Krasnodar activist Daria Polyudova , Karelian deputy Vladimir Zavarkin and Chelyabinsk resident Alexei Moroshkin, who was sent for compulsory treatment, were convicted under this article.

Lawyer Akhmetgaliev noted that all these sentences, which were attached by the applicants to the complaint, confirm the fact that judges give this article of the Criminal Code a meaning that allows them to prosecute people for non-violent statements. In his opinion, this actually means a complete ban on discussing the territorial integrity of Russia, which does not meet the requirement of necessity and proportionality of restrictions established by law.

The applicants indicate in the complaint that criticism in the public space, although it may be unpleasant for specific people, is not dangerous for public interests, since it is an important element of a democratic society. In the complaint, its authors also recall the clarifications on extremist cases that the Supreme Court prepared last year. Then the Federal Chamber of Lawyers proposed to clarify that the expression of an opinion differs from public calls in that a person does not induce or incline anyone to separatism: such a clarification would make it possible to separate illegal actions from acceptable ones in a democratic society. The Presidential Council for Human Rights also asked the Presidential Council for Human Rights to clarify the objective side of the crime under Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Supreme Court, but the court did not do this.

In 2015, the Naberezhnye Chelny court sentenced Tatar human rights activist Rafis Kashapov to three years in a general regime colony on charges of inciting hatred or enmity and calls for separatism (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code and Part 2 of Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code) for VKontakte posts criticizing the annexation of Crimea to Russia.