Igor Stenin’s defense appealed to the ECHR

A complaint against the sentence of the Astrakhan nationalist sentenced to two years in prison was sent to Strasbourg.

On February 8, 2017, it became known that the defense Astrakhan nationalist Igor Stenin , convicted under Part 2 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for carrying out extremist activities via the Internet), filed a complaint against his sentence before the European Court of Human Rights.

Recall that the leader of the movement "Russian Astrakhan" Stenin was sentenced to two years in a colony-settlement on May 16 2016. He was found guilty of posting on the social network VKontakte. under the pseudonym "Ingvar Stefan" records about the war in Ukraine; to him also blamed the comment of another user, which the consequence mistaken for a repost. In July, the regional court upheld the verdict. The human rights center "Memorial" recognized Stenin as politically persecuted motives. From our point of view, the short entry featured in the criminal case with a call for the destruction of the " Kremlin occupiers " cannot be considered as a call for extremist activity. More about our position on this case, we wrote here .

As told To "Kommersant" Stenin's lawyer Natasha Dobreva, the complaint states that, firstly, "the charges against the applicant are not based on the law, as required by the European Convention. Secondly, his condemnation is not necessary in a democratic society. Third, imprisonment is too harsh a punishment ." Dobreva also explained that in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Law "On countering extremist activity" "does not specify the concept of "public appeals" and "extremist activity"", and vague wording leaves room for arbitrary interpretation, and "because of this they may be used against anyone who is inconvenient for the authorities" .

Sources

• Anastasia Kurilova. The ECtHR is called to inspect the posts // Kommersant. February 8, 2017