The ECHR communicated the complaints of Illa Ivanov and Eduard Mochalov

Questions have been addressed to the Russian authorities about whether the ban on an article about the Chuvash language in the newspaper Vzyatka and the criminal prosecution for its publication was properly justified.

18 September 2017 European Court of Rights person communicated the complaints of the journalist Ilya (Ille) Ivanov and the chief editor of the newspaper "Bribe" Eduard Mochalov, bringing them together.

Ivanov disputes sentence given to him. Recall that on October 10, 2013 Morgaushsky District Court of the Chuvash Republic, found him guilty under Part 1 of Art. 282 UK (actions aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, as well as humiliating dignity of a person and a group of persons on the basis of nationality, language and origin, committed with the use of mass media) upon publication articles "Show me your tongue and I'll tell you who you are" in the newspaper "Bribe" on May 4, 2011 and sentenced him to 300 hours compulsory works (Ivanov was released from punishment due to the expiration of statute of limitations for criminal liability), and on November 29, 2013 this decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Chuvashia.

Eduard Mochalov, who repeatedly stated that he was the author of the article "Show me your language, and I'll tell you who you are", while Ivanov only edited it, challenged the decision to recognize it as extremist material, issued by the Supreme Court of Chuvashia on July 25 2012. In addition, Mochalov complained about the unreasonable wiretapping of his telephone conversations, allegedly on suspicion of organizing activities extremist community.

The ECtHR asked Russian authorities a number of questions in connection with these complaints. In particular, was the ban article by a violation of the right of the author or co-authors of the article to freedom of expression opinion guaranteed by Art. 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms; whether this prohibition was necessary in a democratic society, given the situation in the region, in particular with regard to linguistic rights national minorities; whether the publication of the article could lead to violence or other dangerous consequences; whether the need for a ban has been convincingly proven national courts whether they indicated which statements in the article caused their claims and whether they were based on linguistic expertise. Court raised the question of whether the authorship of Ivanov was established, and also not whether violated Art. 10 of the Convention, his prosecution under Art. 282 and listening to it telephone conversations, given his political views and journalistic activity.

In addition, the court inquired whether Ivanov's right to a fair trial had been violated (Article 6 of the Convention), in particular, whether the defense had the opportunity to present their case evidence.

Regarding the complaint Mochalov, the court also asked the Russian authorities a question, were there sufficiently good reasons to suspect him, Ivanov and another person of organizing an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), which promotes pan-Turkism, separatism and national superiority, in connection with the activities of the Assembly of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals to listen in on the telephone conversations of these people, and were there any this violated Art. 8 and Art. 11 of the Convention, respectively guaranteeing secrecy privacy and freedom of assembly.

Recall, we consider the ban articles "Show me your tongue and I'll tell you who you are" and persecution Ille Ivanova on the fact of its publication unlawful. In the material that has become the subject of a criminal case, in an expansive journalistic manner is discussed unequal, in the opinion of the author, the position of the Chuvash in comparison with the Russians, persecution of the Chuvash language, celebrated in the republic, and the imperial Chuvash policy. The article, certainly written from the standpoint Chuvash nationalism, contains incorrect statements about Russians who can be regarded as hate speech, and opposing them to "law-abiding Chuvash", oppressed for centuries. However, in the material there are no calls for anything, and there are no statements that incite hatred.

Sources

• MOCHALOV v. RUSSIA and 1 other application // European Court of Human Rights. 2017. October.