The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to amend the article of the Code of Administrative Offenses on the demonstration of Nazi symbols • Sova • RIMA

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to amend the article of the Code of Administrative Offenses on the demonstration of Nazi symbols

The Office proposes not to extend the punishment for displaying prohibited symbols to works of art and educational publications.

On June 27, 2017 the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications placed on the Federal portal of projects of normative legal acts the draft law on change of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (public demonstration of Nazi symbols and symbols of banned organizations).

It is proposed to supplement Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses with a note, according to which the use of prohibited symbols " in works of science, literature, art, as well as for educational, educational and informational purposes does not constitute a public demonstration, provided there are no signs of propaganda ."

Earlier, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications held a public discussion of a draft law on introducing amendments similar in meaning to the demonstration of Nazi symbols and citing the works of the leaders of the NSDAP and the Italian Fascist Party, to the federal laws "On countering extremist activity" and "On perpetuating the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941– 1945".

We welcome this initiative of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. The SOVA Center has repeatedly pointed out that the ban on any display of Nazi symbols, regardless of the context, prescribed by Russian law, is absurd. However, we believe that it would be more correct and easier not to define a list of exceptions: it is enough to make the propaganda of the relevant ideology a prerequisite for the demonstration of prohibited symbols to be considered illegal.

Sources

Passport of the draft law "On Amending the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses (in terms of improving the legal regulation of countering extremist activity)" // Federal portal of projects of normative legal acts. 2017. June 27.