Ruslan Sokolovsky sentenced to probation

A Yekaterinburg blogger who caught Pokemon in a temple has been found guilty of inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of believers.

On May 11, 2017, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg recognized the video blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky guilty of inciting religious and national hatred (part 1 of article 282 of the Criminal Code), insulting the feelings of believers (part 1 of article 148 of the Criminal Code), as well as in illegal circulation special technical means (Article 138.1 of the Criminal Code). Sokolovsky was sentenced to 3.5 years suspended sentence with a probationary period of three years and a ban on participation in public events. The court pointed out that the videos, in which he was found guilty of posting on the network, must be removed. Recall that the prosecution asked to appoint Sokolovsky a real term of imprisonment - three and a half years in prison in a general regime colony. Until the entry into force of the verdict, Sokolovsky will be under house arrest. The defense plans to appeal the verdict.

The court decided that Sokolovsky's guilt was established in the commission of 9 episodes of the crime, provided for in Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity), 7 episodes under Part 1 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public actions aimed at offending the feelings of believers) and one episode under Art. 138.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal circulation of special technical means intended for secret information). Allegations of arousal hatred and insulting the feelings of believers were brought against Sokolovsky for publication of videos full of provocative statements before of all atheistic nature, including the plot about catching Pokemon in Yekaterinburg Cathedral of the Intercession on Blood, he was also accused of acquiring "spy pen".

Recall that we got acquainted with part of the video, the publication of which was imputed to Sokolovsky, in particular, with the videos "Ideal Orthodox Marriage", "Letters of Hate. Believers", "Muslim Suicide on the Unified State Examination", "Patriarch Kirill, you - f ...!" , "Sokolovsky in prison for catching Pokemon", "I flew into space, I did not see Chechens", "Joined a sect", "Sokolovsky in prison for catching Pokemon (Pokemon Go)", "Catching Pokemon in the church" and "Letters of hatred- feminists" (the latter mentioned the purchase of a pen). From our point of view, the publication of a video about playing Pokemon Go in the Cathedral of the Intercession on Blood in Yekaterinburg did not fall under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, since it did not contain any aggressive appeals. The application of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code: none of the visitors to the temple noticed the actions of the blogger and, moreover, did not suffer from them, no damage was caused to objects of worship, and the video did not encroach on sacred space in any way. As for other videos, they were full of foul language and derogatory characteristics of religion in general, Orthodoxy and Orthodox, Muslims, followers of Leonid Maslov and feminists, in addition, Sokolovsky used pejorative ethnonyms and criticized the Chechen authorities. However, all these materials did not contain dangerous appeals. In one of the videos, Sokolovsky expressed support for the OMON operation to detain and further deport Muslims, but such a statement cannot be regarded as illegal. We believe that the verdict Sokolovsky is wrong. The blogger could only be charged with humiliation dignity, but humiliation, with our point of view, should be removed from Art. 282 of the Criminal Code and transferred to the Code of Administrative Offenses, where there is already an article on insult, since such acts are not pose a serious threat to society. We opposed the amendments, according to which Art. 148 of the Criminal Code introduced "insulting the feelings believers", because we believe that this indefinite concept does not have and does not may have a clear legal meaning, and the trial of Sokolovsky is clearly demonstrated. Existence in the Russian Criminal Code of Article 148 in its current form violates the right of citizens to freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.

Sources

• The blogger who caught Pokemon in the temple of Yekaterinburg received a suspended sentence // TASS. May 11, 2017
• Blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky sentenced in Yekaterinburg for committing a number of crimes, including extremist activities // Website of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. May 11, 2017