Nationalist Belov (Potkin) complained to the Constitutional Court about Article 282 on extremism

Nationalist Alexander Potkin (Belov) filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against the article on incitement of hatred or enmity (Article 282 of the Criminal Code) in the part “in which this norm served as the basis for bringing him to criminal responsibility for his political activities,” Vedomosti writes , citing Open Russia lawyer Sergei Badamshin.

Potkin was arrested on October 15, 2014 in connection with a criminal case initiated in 2009 against Kazakh banker and politician Mukhtar Ablyazov and a group of individuals associated with him for the alleged theft of credit funds from BTA Bank JSC (Republic of Kazakhstan).

In addition, Potkin is accused of extremism (Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for preparing an action within the framework of the "Evil Kazakh" project. Trainings for this project were held in Kyrgyzstan to prepare "color revolutions." According to the prosecutor, Potkin received orders from Ablyazov.

Potkin was last charged with calls for extremist activity (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The charge was based on a video clip from the documentary project "Term", which aimed to show the activities of leaders of the non-systemic opposition.

According to the lawyer, the episode with the theft fell apart, but “extremism remained” thanks to the vague wording of the article, which allows for criminal liability “for any statements, even if they did not cause harm to anyone.”

On May 15, it became known that blogger Anton Nosik appealed Article 282 of the Criminal Code in the Constitutional Court.