Reaction or imitation. The state against inciting hatred and political activity of nationalists in Russia in 2017

Edited by Alexander Verkhovsky CV

Criminal prosecution : For public statements : For participation in extremist communities and banned organizations

Federal list of extremist materials

Prohibition of organizations as extremist

Other administrative measures : Prosecution for administrative offenses : Internet blocking

Brief statistics of crimes and punishments

Summary

In 2017, according to monitoring of the SOVA Center [1] , number criminal convictions for public “extremist statements” (inciting hatred, calls for extremist or terrorist actions, etc.) again exceeded and last year's figures, and the number of sentences for all other "extremist crimes." The number of administrative sentences on anti-extremist crimes also increased. articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses. But the number of convictions for violent crimes according to the motive of hatred has decreased, but our previous report [2] was devoted to this .

It is not easy to answer the question to what extent this enforcement trend means political pressure on nationalist movements and groups, in which - the use of criminal repression to extreme or ordinary manifestations of intolerance, and in which - the persecution of random people in order to improve accountability. Our data too incomplete for that, but no doubt all these components are present in practice.

Traditionally, the objects of law enforcement are mostly parts grassroots nationalist activists and ordinary republicators of xenophobic speech in social networks. However, the persecution launched in 2014 continues. popular figures and leaders of the far right. So, in 2017, Dmitry Bobrov, Nikolai Bondarik, Yuri Ekishev and Dmitry Demushkin, who remained at large for an inexplicably long time, were convicted, Vladimir was sentenced to Kvachkov. Members of the Misanthropic Division movement were also convicted last year. and the Volia party, but most nationalist organizations that were not banned could continue activity, albeit much less active [3] . Articles of the Criminal Code, directed against organized "extremist activity" were used even somewhat less frequently than before.

The degree of evidence of the allegations, both in the cases of leaders and in the cases of random citizens, it is very different. Of course, the low quality of the investigation occurs not only in countering extremism, but it gives the most a clear negative effect when it comes to noticeable, even if only in their own environment, political leaders such as Demushkin.

In general, criminal penalties for public statements have become stricter, imprisonment is more often applied. is increasing as well as the number of additional bans on the use of the Internet and are multiplying cases of confiscation of expensive "instruments of crime" - laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.

The prosecutor's office is gradually moving away from the practice of injunctions and is increasingly resorting to extrajudicial blocking as the main tool of “prevention extremism." However, the quality in the choice of objects of prohibition or blocking is still remains in question.

Thus, counteraction to extremism is intensified specifically in areas related to the restriction of freedom of speech. The restrictions themselves however, they are often interpreted too loosely. But, most importantly, monitoring the activity xenophobic groups does not show the need for such intensification.

Criminal

the pursuit

For public statements

The number of sentences issued for "extremist statements" (inciting hatred, calls for extremist or terrorist activities, etc.), continued to outperform all other countries in 2017 sentences for "extremist crimes" combined. In 2017, it was issued at least 213 sentences against 228 people in 65 regions of the country. For 2016 a year we knew 201 such sentences against 220 people in 66 regions of the country.

In this report, we do not we write about sentences that we consider unlawful, but there were much fewer of them. In 2017, we found 17 sentences against 17 people unlawful: we are talking about 10 sentences against 10 people handed down under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, 5 sentences against 5 person under Part 1 of Art. 148, 1 sentence under Art. 280 of the Criminal Code, 1 sentence under Art. 280 ¹ UK [4] .

Unfortunately, we can say that we know far from all such judgments. According to statistics published on the website of the Supreme court [5] , for statements (parts 1 and 2, art. 148, art. 205 ² , Art. 280 ¹ , Art. 282, Art. 354 ¹ of the Criminal Code) in the first half of 2017 alone, 292 people were convicted with these the articles were the main ones in the accusation, and 82 people, for whom these articles were additional, - that is, just for "extremist statements" from 292 to 374 people were convicted [6] .

Of the sentences known to us [7], Art. 282 UK (“Inciting hatred and enmity”), as usual, was used in the majority (in 199 sentences in 210 people). In the vast majority of cases (136), this article was the only article in the verdict. In 13 sentences, 13 people had only Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (“Public calls for extremist activity”). More in 29 cases it was combined with art. 282 of the Criminal Code.

A counted number of sentences were handed down according to relatively recent articles of the Criminal Code. In two sentences, Art. 280 ¹ UK ("Public calls for the implementation of actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity RF"). In one of them, the head of the Samara branch of the “Community of Indigenous Russian people” (OKRN) to Viktor Permyakov [8] - she neighbored from Art. 282.

In two more cases, Part 1 of Art. 354 ¹ UK (“The denial of the facts established by the verdict of the International Military tribunal for the trial and punishment of the main war criminals of European countries, approval crimes established by the said verdict, as well as spreading knowingly false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War). In one case, she was adjacent to Art. 282, in another - from Art. 282 and Art. 280. In both cases It was about publishing on the Internet.

In all these cases, the "new" articles did not entail heavy punishments. Convicted under Art. 280 ¹ received suspended sentences under Art. 354 ¹ were fined.

Art. 282 and 280 of the Criminal Code could be combined with other articles of the charge, including for violent acts or vandalism [9] .

Very little is known about sentences under Art. 205 ² UK ("Public calls for terrorist activities). She often combined with other "extremist articles", including Art. 282 and Art. 280. This article was used for radical Islamist statements, including those relating to the military conflict in Syria, to supporters of banned Ukrainian organizations - the "Right Sector" [10] , UNA-UNSO and Misanthropic Division [11] . Besides, it was used in the sentencing of the leader of the Union of Young Innovation Leaders in Tatarstan for homophobic a statement justifying a massacre in a gay club in the United States [12] .

Punishment for those convicted public statements were distributed as follows:

• 47 people were sentenced to imprisonment;
• 114 - convicted conditionally without any additional sanctions;
• 31 - sentenced to various fines;
• 8 - to correctional work;
• 22 - to mandatory work;
• 1 - to limit freedom;
• 5 - directed for compulsory treatment;
• 1 - released in connection with repentance.

As can be seen from the data, the number of those sentenced to imprisonment has increased (a year earlier we wrote about 36 people).

13 out of 47 people convicted to imprisonment, received terms in conjunction with other charges (violence, arson, robbery, possession of drugs).

9 people were already in prison, and their sentences have been extended. The most famous such prisoner was former leader of the Minin and Pozharsky People's Militia (NOMP) and colonel GRU retired Vladimir Kvachkov received another year and a half in a strict regime colony for the video "Kvachkov in IK-5 Mordovia" [13] .

6 people were convicted for "extremist statements" again, which greatly increases the risk of imprisonment. This group included the leader of the Parabellum movement and an activist of the Kvachkovsky "People's Militia of Russia" (former NOMP) Yuri Ekishev, who received a year and a half imprisonment for two anti-Semitic articles [14] , and the leader of the banned ultra-right organization Narodnaya Social Initiative (NSI), former leader of the Shultz-88 group Dmitry Bobrov, who received two years in prison for publishing the article "Racial Doctrine" [15] .

Two more people before were convicted and have already served time on "violent" charges. Among them - former Nazi skinhead gang member from Chelyabinsk, Dmitry Shokhov (Gunther), who received six months in prison for xenophobic poster on the Internet [16] .

Taking into account the identity of the accused to two and a half years in prison general regime, the ex-leader of the banned organizations “Russians”, “Slavyansky Union” and “Slavic Power” Dmitry Demushkin [17] – for two pictures in the social network "VKontakte" [18] . And this one The verdict was perhaps the most resonant for the entire past year.

Predictably stricter punishment under the anti-terrorist art. 205 ² UK. Three people were sentenced to imprisonment for radical Islamist videos and publications on the Internet; four people (already mentioned supporters of banned Ukrainian organizations "Right Sector", UNA-UNSO and Misanthropic Division) sat down for radical publications, related to the events in Ukraine.

However, seven people received terms without any of the above circumstances (or we do not know about them). It's about on sentences handed down in Bryansk, Krasnodar, Nizhnevartovsk, Saratov, Rostov-on-Don, Perm and the Perm Territory for publications in the social network "VKontakte" of various unnamed materials (video and audio clips, comments, etc.), including appeals to violence. We consider these decisions to be unreasonably harsh. The situation compared to worsened over the past year (in 2016 we wrote about five such convicts), but did not reach the record of 2015, when we counted 16 convicted of “extremist statements." In 2013 and 2014, we know of two such unjustifiably cruel sentence [19] .

At the same time, 8% Compared to last year, the proportion of suspended sentences increased to 49% (114 out of 228). A year ago we wrote about 41% (82 out of 198 convicts). We find it strange a situation where conditional terms are re-issued. This means that the previous the term did not make the convict think about what he had done and did not stop him from committing such an act. Say, a suspended sentence for publishing a xenophobic post in again received social networks the well-known St. Petersburg nationalist Nikolai Bondarik [20] . IN In April 2015, the court had already sentenced him to 1.5 years in prison on probation - for complicity in preparing a provocation on Eid al-Adha (then two residents of St. Petersburg stated that they had been subjected to a xenophobic attack, but later confessed in staging).

More appropriate punishment for such offenses we consider fines or sentences to mandatory and corrective work. The proportion of such convicts (62 people) sentenced to punishments not related to with neither real nor conditional imprisonment, decreases compared to 2016. And this is the second year we have been recording this downward trend.

Last year at least in five sentences, a ban on the profession was applied. In one judgment Vladimir region featured a ban on working with children, in the other four - to work in the media. And we consider these decisions quite justified, especially when it comes to working with children.

We are aware of at least 12 cases of online public speaking bans and bans on appearances at public events, including a ban on visiting the World Cup 2018 to the leader of the TOYS fan group Evgeny (Gavre) Gavrilov [21] .

In addition, there are seven cases of deprivation of the right to use the Internet for a certain period. This measure looks like weird and redundant. It is completely unclear how to control such a ban, and it is difficult to imagine work, study and everyday life without the Internet.

The same excessive us it seems that the confiscation of “crime weapons”, i.e. laptops, mobile phones or tablets from which the statements that became the subject of judicial trial.

Overwhelming majority sentences were handed down for materials posted on the Internet, including various electronic communications - 205 out of 213, which accounted for 96%, that is, about 10% more than in 2014-2016.

These materials were posted:

• in social networks - 182 (including VKontakte - 138, unspecified social networks - 38, very probably - also VKontakte, Odnoklassniki - 4; Facebook - 2);
• blogs (both - "Live Journal") - 2;
• on your own website - 1;
• в YouTube – 2;
• in online media – 3 (all three are comments on articles in online media);
• on the forum - 1;
• mailing by e-mail - 2 (both sentenced are supporters of the Volia party);
• the local network - 1;
• was not indicated where exactly on the Internet - 11.

This distribution remains practically unchanged for the last six years [22] . Materials for sentencing for "extremist" statements employees of the centers "E" and the FSB draw from the most famous in Russia and the most popular among young people (including ultra-right youth) of the VKontakte social network.

Typically, when communicating about all these verdicts, nothing is said about the audience of the statements imputed to the defendants. Last year the number of "visitors" and “friends” of the convicts were mentioned just a few times. Certainly, VKontakte or Odnoklassniki is very popular in Russia, and theoretically anyone can see everything that is published there. And this is the main argument of law enforcement officers when making such decisions. It is very significant what is now in the news prosecutors about sentences for statements in social networks or blogs almost invariably it adds that the incriminated materials were in “free” or “open” access. However, in practice, before law enforcement officers, “seditious” pages most often visited only by a few friends on the social network.

In this sense, sentences for sending files by e-mail or for uploading them to the local networks are, to say the least, controversial. It is interesting that there is no news about this the number of mailing list recipients or network participants is not explained. We consider it important and it is necessary to repeat: [23] to clarify the main thing in the "propaganda" articles nothing is being done about the degree of publicity, it is still not taken into account in any way in court decisions. The Supreme Court, in 2016 preparing an updated Resolution on criminal anti-extremist and anti-terrorist law enforcement [24] , also refused to discuss these issues.

These are the following types materials (on the same account and even on the same page could be located materials of different types):

• videos - 64;
• Images (drawings, demotivators) - 36;
• photos - 22;
• audio (songs) - 37;
• texts (including book republishing) - 59;
• remarks, comments (on social networks and forums) – 17;
• creating your own sites and groups - 3;
• unknown - 31.

This distribution is also steadily for the last six years, mainly the most illustrative materials - videos, pictures and photos.

It is significant that all these the materials were not original, but mostly reprints. Only in six cases, it was mentioned that the convicts themselves produced the materials that became the subject of litigation, while the rest were engaged in pressing the "repost" button. Was would be much more effective if law enforcement officers found those who filmed the video (as found, for example, Restrukt activists filming their attacks on the video), or wrote the text (as in the case of Dmitry Bobrov, who wrote article), or at least those who initially posted the materials on the Internet, and not attracted one of the many republishers of these products.

Of course, "original texts” can probably be called replicas and comments on social networks and on forums, but it seems to us that Internet chatter is not worth criminal prosecution due to its locality and small audience.

But the creation of ultra-right groups in social networks, systematically propagating hatred should be given more attention.

Sentences for statements outside the Internet turned out to be almost four times less than a year earlier: 8 versus 31 in 2016. They were distributed as follows:

• public insult on the street - 1;
• flyer, poster – 3;
• graffiti - 2;
• public performance songs - 2.

We have no objection namely criminal prosecution for all the listed types of acts and we have no doubts the legitimacy of the judgments. We only note that in these cases it is necessary take into account not only the content of the statement, but also other factors that affect it public danger, and first of all the real size of the audience, that is, it is important take into account also the degree of publicity of the statement (number of listeners at a concert, for example) [25] .

To participate

in extremist communities and banned organizations

In 2017 the persecution ultra-right under Art. 282 ¹ (“Organization of an extremist community”) and Art. 282 ² (“Organization of the activities of an extremist organization”) of the Criminal Code was less noticeable than the year before. We know 4 such sentences against 6 people in four regions of the country [26] (in 2016 - 7 sentences against 20 people in 7 regions). We do not write in this report about those wrongfully convicted under these articles, which were 32 people under Art. 282 ² . We do not compare with data of the Supreme Court for the first half of the year, since almost all the verdicts occurred in the second half a year.

According to our information, Art. 282 ¹ The Criminal Code appeared in the case of the already mentioned leader of a group of football TOYS fans Evgeniya (Gavra) Gavrilova from Samara. He is in total Art. 282 ¹ from Art.Art. 282 and 280 was sentenced to 6.5 years of imprisonment with probation for 4 years. Members of the group, football fans committed "extremist crimes" and administrative offenses and posted Nazi symbols and slogans on social media to extremist activity [27] .

In two cases, it was charged Art. 282 ² Criminal Code on the continuation of the activities of an organization banned as extremist.

In Barnaul, a resident of the Zmeinogorsky district for involvement in activity of an unnamed extremist organization received two years in prison conditionally, with a probationary period of 2 years. The convict is “an adherent of nationalist ideas" - "persuaded his acquaintances to participate in the activities of an extremist organization” and “promoted the ideas of racism, violence, separatist and revolutionary sentiment among young people” [28] .

And traditionally, according to Art. 282 ² members of the Criminal Code were convicted neo-pagan organization "Spiritual-Clan Power of Rus'". Three activists of the banned organizations from Krasnodar and Goryachiy Klyuch came to the Starominsk regional service department bailiffs and began to promote the activities of the "Derzhava Rus". In fact visit to the department against all three and a criminal case was initiated. The court recognized them guilty and sentenced two to 5 months in a colony-settlement, and the third, taking into account state of health - to 5 months of imprisonment on probation 1 year. This story is typical for the members of the "Derzhava Rus", actively reminding about his movement to official and law enforcement agencies. However, they usually rarely personally come to the official departments, and are limited to sending letters to the authorities. These same activists have been repeatedly fined under Art. 282 ² for such deeds [29] .

We do not know anything about the sentences passed against right-wing radicals. for organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and participating in the activities terrorist organization (art. 205 ⁴ ), as well as for organizing a terrorist community and participation in it (art. 205 ⁵ ), although some nationalist organizations and were previously banned as terrorist.

federal list

extremist materials

In 2017 Federal the list of extremist materials was updated 33 times (a year earlier - 54), it included 330 points were added (785 points a year earlier), and it grew from 4016 to 4345 positions [30] . However, in fact, there are more materials: in some paragraphs can contain several materials at once. In addition, in 2017 item 4175 was excluded from the list, added in 2017, and paras. 3452–3455 added earlier.

The Ministry of Justice changed the order informing about the update of the Federal List of Extremist Materials. From December 2017 on the website of the Ministry of Justice, the list is not only replenished, but dated news about updates. True, they are published with a delay. Let's say new items in the list appeared on January 10, however, the news reported an update December 29th.

The list began to be updated noticeably less intensively, than a year earlier. Obviously the reason is that the order of the Prosecutor General's Office, which re-regulates the procedure for banning materials for extremism [31] adopted in the spring of 2016, by 2017 it began to affect court decisions.

Thematic additions were distributed as follows:

• xenophobic materials of modern Russian nationalists - 212;
• materials other nationalists - 27;
• materials Islamist militants and other calls for violence by political Islamists - 30;
• other Muslim materials - 13;
• materials Orthodox fundamentalists - 2;
• other religious materials - 7;
• extremely radical anti-Russian speeches from Ukraine (we separate them from “other nationalists”) – 6;
• other materials Ukrainian media and internet - 6;
• other materials inciting to riots and violence - 3;
• artistic literature and texts of historians - 2;
• anti-religious materials - 8;
• peaceful opposition materials - 3;
• parodic materials prohibited as serious - 5;
• Christian anti-Islamic materials - 1;
• materials prohibited by mistake - 2;
• materials created, in our opinion, by people in an altered state of consciousness - 1;
• non-identifiable materials - 2.

Share of online materials the list is expected to grow: at least 304 items out of 330 are materials from the Internet, including those sent via messengers (a year earlier - 711 points out of 785). Big some of them are various xenophobic materials from the VKontakte social network. Offline materials 2017 is all sorts of ethnoxenophobic literature, books by Orthodox fundamentalists, Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Yehovists-Ilyins, leaflets.

Sometimes it's not entirely clear where exactly the prohibited material is located: for example, paragraph 4028 is described as “audio material called “Pee Chunks!!!” artist "Severe Ms" , without any additional imprint.

However, more often it happens the other way around: the same material is published in the list, located on different electronic addresses. Let's say a material described as "drawing in the form of a pig, dressed in jeans, sneakers and a jacket, in whose hands an object, similar to a knife, and the text: “Even Piggy became a Nazi, so that Russia would be clean, Battle keep going, Zi-ig Hail!" , repeated with different Internet addresses from 4228 to 4232. And such identical materials located on different pages are added to the list hit multiple times in 2017. And the total repetitions in this list at the end of 2017 year was at least 186.

Unfortunately, slowing down the growth of the list did not improve the quality in any way. points added there, with this huge and obscure mechanism it has long been impossible work, we write about all the shortcomings of the list almost verbatim from year to year [32] . Apart from a large number of various bibliographical, grammatical and spelling errors and typos, the list is growing in the number of careless described materials. Here is how, for example, one can interpret the material from paragraph 4299: "leaflet" German intelligence agent rules Russia!”, author and place of publishing house unknown, on 4 pages” ?! flyers under such a title, published in the 1918-1920s, not many less than ten.

And, already traditionally, some materials continue to recognize extremist is clearly wrong. In 2017, at least 38 of them were added (materials Jehovah's Witnesses, pamphlet of Yehovists-Ilyins, Muslim materials, opposition materials from Ukrainian sites and some others).

Prohibition

organizations as extremist

In 2017 to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations, published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, 6 organizations were added - less than a year earlier (10 organizations). On the other hand, paragraph 62, added in 2017, includes the illegally prohibited Management center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia [33] and all 395 local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Of the ultra-right associations, the list included the organization "Frontier of the North", recognized extremist decision of the Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic on November 23 2016 [34] , and merging football fans "TOYS" ("TOYS", "The Opposition Young Supporters"), recognized extremist decision of the Soviet District Court of Samara on April 11, 2017 [35]

In addition to right-wing radical organizations, in 2017 the list included the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people [36] , Naberezhnye Chelny branch of the Tatarstan regional all-Tatar political public movement - the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC) [37] . Apart from already mentioned gigantic point 62, the list was supplemented by the previously banned local organization Witnesses - an organization of Witnesses Jehovah in Birobidzhan [38] . We consider all these decisions illegal [39] .

Thus, the list includes 63 organizations whose activities are prohibited. in court, and the continuation of this activity is punishable under Art. 282 ² Criminal Code (“Organization of the activities of an extremist organization”).

In addition, the list of organizations recognized as terrorist has also been updated over the year. which is published on the FSB website. Only one organization was added in a year - "Mujahideen of the Jamaat At-Tawhid Wal-Jihad" (p. 27).

Other administrative

measures

The pursuit

for administrative offenses

Administrative law enforcement is also gaining momentum: the number of those punished for administrative “extremist” articles is growing. This is noticeable despite the fact that our data here is even more incomplete, than in criminal cases: on the websites of prosecutor's offices and courts, data appear with greater late and not all. the statistics we collected [40] We present without taking into account decisions that we consider to be clearly illegal [41] .

We know about 136 people prosecuted in 2017 under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Propaganda or public display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols extremist organizations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, propaganda or public display of which is prohibited by federal laws"), from 5 of them are minors (last year we wrote about 128 convicted under this article).

According to the statistics of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, according to Art. 20.3 Administrative Code for the first 910 people were convicted in the first half of 2017 [42] , for the entire 2016 - 1786 people [43] .

The number of people punished for showing their own tattoos has increased with Nazi symbols among the prisoners of the colonies. In 2017, according to our data, there were at least 46 such people (a year earlier - 25 people).

Most offenders were fined between 1 and 3 thousand rubles. Some, in addition, confiscated the "instrument of the crime" (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.), which is many times higher than the amount paid fines. 8 people were sentenced to administrative arrests (from 3 to 10 days). Another offender was interviewed.

We know about 203 people punished under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Production and dissemination of extremist materials”), 4 of them are minors (in 2016 we wrote about 161 convicted under this article).

According to the statistics of the Supreme Court, under Art. 20.29 Administrative Code for the first six months in 2017, there were 911 convicts [44] . For the whole 2016 - 1679 convicts [45] .

One of the 203 people known to us was brought to disciplinary responsibility. But most of the convicts paid small fines. Among them the far-right neo-pagan Dmitry Melash, who was fined 2,000 rubles, also turned out to be for a video recording of a Skype conversation in which a neo-pagan was dressed in a T-shirt with symbols Battalion "Azov" [46] . For the symbols of another banned Ukrainian organization, the Right Sector was fined and an activist of the Artpodgotovka movement [47] Sergey Zinov [48] .

As for the points of the Federal List used in practice under Art. 20.29, the attention of prosecutors is still focused on a very small their number: songs of far-right groups ("Kolovrat", "Grot", "Gangs of Moscow", "Voice freedom, etc.); some xenophobic videos (including the Format-18 movement, "Tesak vs. Eduard Bagirov", videos "Russian, wake up! Goes against you war", "Maxim Bazylev - the wars of the revolution", "The image of a skinhead", "I don't want to be tolerant" etc.); images ("Letter to the Fuhrer"); songs of bards Alexander Kharchikov and Timur Mutsuraeva; poems by Leonid Kornilov; some ISIS videos. The number of these points is still incomparable with the size and variety of materials laid out in the list. And as a human being, the employees of the prosecutor's offices can be understood, since to master this huge no one has been able to document for a long time.

Legal entities were also found guilty under this article. IN Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was fined by the owner of a shopping center for selling a disk with a certain forbidden song. And in Kaliningrad, the director of an online bookstore was fined, selling a forbidden book.

15 people in 2017 were prosecuted under Art. 20.3 and 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses simultaneously. All of them were fined.

To administrative responsibility under Art. 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Non-execution parents of duties for the maintenance and upbringing of minors") were involved two parents of underage xenophobes.

Above, we spoke only about those decisions that we consider more or less less legitimate. However, we know of at least 46 more cases of wrongful punishment. under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and 26 cases under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Thus, for 339 legitimate decisions accounted for 72 illegal. The proportion of wrong decisions remained about the same as a year earlier (21%). In 2016, we wrote about 62 illegal decisions against 289 lawful ones.

Locks

in the Internet

In the last four years the scale of the fight against extremist content on the Internet is growing before our eyes, carried out by blocking access to prohibited (or otherwise allegedly "dangerous") materials.

Internet filtering system works, based on the Unified Register of Prohibited Sites, functioning from November 1, 2012 d. Based on data from the Roskomsvoboda website [49] (only Roskomnadzor itself has complete information), we believe that “for extremism” by court decision in 2017, 297 resources (a year earlier - 486) [50] . As of January 1, 2018, resources blocked in this way for the entire existence of the registry, according to preliminary estimates, there were a total of at least 1205 [51] .

To the Unified Register for the year The following types of resources have been included:

• xenophobic materials of Russian nationalists - 180;
• Nazi symbols out of touch with Russian nationalists - 3;
• radical Muslim militants and other calls for violence by political Islamists - 31;
• peaceful Muslim materials - 40;
• prohibited Islamic symbols in itself, without connection with radical Muslims - 1;
• anti-Islamic materials - 1;
• Witness materials Jehovah - 2;
• inflammatory anti-government materials (including an article by Boris Stomakhin) - 2;
• extremely radical performances from Ukraine and symbols of banned organizations - 9;
• other materials of the Ukrainian media and the Internet - 6;
• materials of the classics of fascism - 9;
• large heterogeneous arrays of texts, completely blocked - 1;
• peaceful materials criticizing the Russian Orthodox Church - 5;
• peaceful opposition materials - 3;
• materials banned by mistake - 1;
• unknown - 3.

In addition, we know about at least 62 more appeals of the prosecutor's offices to the courts with a demand to recognize the existence of on a number of Internet pages of information “prohibited for distribution in the territory RF”, and add resources to this register. Probably, in fact, where such appeals more. And that means the growth of the registry will not stop.

Number of blocked through the court of resources has decreased compared to 2016, but the quality of these blocks is still in doubt. For example, sometimes blocking is still performed not specific sites or pages, but the results of search engines for keywords ( "Page with links to download audio files, found by searching for the keywords “Honor and Blood””, etc.” ), and these solutions are clearly illegal: in the list by keywords, there may be completely different resources.

The unified register is being supplemented a separate registry under the “Lugovoy law” [52] , which provides for extrajudicial blocking of sites with calls for extremist actions and riots at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, but without trial. And if the Unified Register last year replenished more slowly than before, then the “register Lugovoi” is growing rapidly: in 2017, 1247 resources were contributed there (in 2016 year - 923) [53] . In total, according to our calculations, in the “Lugovoy register” - 2495 blocked "for extremism" resources.

To Lugovoy's register for year the following types of resources were included:

• radical Muslim militants and other calls for violence by political Islamists (including ISIS videos, calls to go to Syria) – 488;
• Hizb ut-Tahrir materials - 442;
• Ukrainian nationalist organizations and websites of Ukrainian organizations banned in Russia - 141;
• other materials of the Ukrainian media - 61;
• materials of Russian nationalists - 35;
• calls to take part in rallies of Russian nationalists (including Vyacheslav Maltsev's calls for a revolution on November 5) - 14;
• calls to come to opposition rallies - 4;
• calls for violence (real and parodic) that do not belong to the categories above - 25;
• materials of Russian separatists and about them - 7;
• other calls to take part in local rallies - 3;
• anti-religious materials - 11;
• sites of undesirable organizations - 8;
• anti-Ukrainian sites - 1;
• resources with compromising evidence - 1 (UtroNews website);
• various religious materials - 1 (a video where Takeshi Kitano is listening in some old Japanese TV show Shoko Asaharu [54] );
• artistic literature - 1 (book by Muslim Dmitry Akhtyamov "Islamic breakthrough");
• parody Russophobic materials - 1;
• online games – 1 (“Russian terrorists” game);
• sites on the Armenian-Azerbaijani theme - 1 (an article by Najmudin Aliyev "Grey Wolves" in Derbent. Where the legs grow from the mass execution of tourists, published on Kavkaz-Press);
• non-identifiable materials - 1.

This rapidly growing the registry, alas, also does not stand up to scrutiny. First of all, most often it is not clear why the out-of-court, that is, urgent, blocking of materials was needed (for example, various kinds of Muslim literature, xenophobic songs or even commercials with beheading), have long been freely available on the Internet. The pages created to mobilize for mass actions (resources with calls to join the "revolution" of Vyacheslav Maltsev), that is, exactly those that explained the adoption of the “Lugovoy law”, despite numerous blockings, they remain freely available until now. Many materials similar (or almost similar) to those blocked, and now are quite accessible, and during the period of preparation of the shares, all information on the Internet is up to the expected recipients reached almost instantly. Experience shows that to block everything and thus stop mass mobilization, it is impossible: after all, in such cases too many distribution channels are being used at the same time.

The list also includes links to banned Ukrainian sites and pages organizations deemed undesirable - and this is a clear example of political bias. In addition, the list contains a growing number of references to blocked opposition websites and calls to come to opposition actions. These examples demonstrate that extrajudicial blocking carried out only on the basis of suspicion inevitably leads to arbitrariness and abuse by the authorities.

The number of illegal sanctions is on the rise. In the registry is inevitable there are also resources blocked obviously by mistake or from inability to figure it out, - and this is no wonder with such a large-scale cleansing.

Formally, the two indicated registries exist on the website Roskomnadzor separately, but the procedure for working with them is almost the same. By by decision of Roskomnadzor, blocking is performed at a specific page address (URL), or, much more broadly, by subdomain name, or by physical address (IP) [55] .

All our claims to the effectiveness and legitimacy of these mechanisms we have stated many times before [56] . Situation only changes for the worse. Like the Federal List, the registries swell and the quality of their replenishment is not improving. As a result, the current blocking systems do not cause approval in society, do nothing to improve security or prevent possible radicalization, but only cause distrust in law enforcement and hinder realization of freedom of speech on the Internet.

---

[1] Our work in 2017 on this topic was supported by Norwegian Helsinki Committee, International Partnership for Human Rights and the Federal Republic of Germany.

December 30, 2016 The SOVA Center was forcibly entered by the Ministry of Justice into the register of “non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent." We do not agree with this decision and will appeal it.

[2] Yudina N. Xenophobia in in numbers: Hate crime and countering it in Russia in 2017 // Owl Center. January 31, 2018 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2018/01/d38732/).

[3] Alperovich Vera. This is a fiasco, gentlemen. Russian movement nationalists in the summer and autumn of 2017 // SOVA Center. 2017. December 26 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2017/12/d38558/).

[4] See another Sova report coming out at the same time: Kravchenko Maria. Misuse of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in 2017.

The cases considered in it are not considered. in this report and are not included in the calculations.

[5] Summary statistical information on the activities of federal courts of general jurisdiction and justices of the peace for the 1st half of 2017 // Official website Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (http://www.cdep.ru/userimages/sudebnaya_statistika/2017/F1-svod_1-2017.xls)/

[6] According to the Supreme Court website, by hh. 1 and 2 Art. 148 the main article of the charge was in 3 people, additional at 2, art. 205 ² - respectively, 33 and 6, Art. 280-49 and 26, Art. 280 ¹ - at 1 and 2, art. 282 - at 205 and 45, art. 354 ¹ – at 1 and 1. These articles can be combined in sentences both with each other and with other articles (see below in this report), so that the actual number of those convicted of speech is between the sum of the first digits and the sum of the first and second.

[7] Further, all calculations are carried out precisely according to the known to us sentences, although, judging by the data of the Supreme Court, there are, of course, more of them, at least two and a half times, maybe even three. But given the amount of data available, assume that the observed patterns and proportions will be true for everything the amount of sentences.

[8] Tolyatti: Sentence passed in the case of the head of the Indigenous Russian people // SOVA Center. 2017. December 21 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/12/d38543/).

[9] For more details see: Yudina N. Xenophobia in numbers…

[10] Magnitogorsk: sentenced for posting on social networks // Center "Owl". 2017. April 27 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/04/d36916/).

[11] Participants of the Misanthropic movement convicted in Moscow Division // SOVA Center. 2017. June 20 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/06/d37326/).

[12] Kazan: the leader of the Union of Young Innovation Leaders // SOVA Center. 2017. February 1 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/02/d36294/).

[13] NOMP leader Colonel Kvachkov received another year and a half strict regime colonies // SOVA Center. 2017. August 23 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/08/d37714/).

[14] Moscow: verdict in the case against Yuri Ekishev // Center "Owl". 2017. May 3 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/05/d36967/).

[15] D. Bobrov did not appear at the announcement of the verdict and disappeared from the investigation. For more details, see: NSI Leader Receives Two Years in Prison // SOVA Center. 2017. September 12 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/09/d37860/).

[16] Chelyabinsk: verdict under Art. 282 vs ex-member skinhead gangs // SOVA Center. 2017. May 12 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/05/d37036/).

[17] Dmitry Demushkin repeatedly became a defendant criminal and administrative cases and violated his travel ban. However, before never been convicted.

[18] Demushkin received 2.5 years in a penal colony // Owl Center. 2017. April 25 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/04/d36897/).

[19] Who is imprisoned for extremist crimes is not general criminal character // SOVA Center. 2013. December 24 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2013/12/d28691/).

[20] Nationalist Nikolai Bondarik convicted in St. Petersburg // Center "Owl". 2017. January 9 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/01/d36141/).

[21] TOYS leader sentenced in Samara // Center "Owl". 2017. November 24 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/11/d38350/).

[22] See for example: Yudina N. Anti-extremism in the virtual Russia in 2014–2015 // Center "Owl". 2016. June 29 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2016/06/d34913/).

[23] See: Alperovich V., Verkhovsky A., Yudina N. Between Manezhnaya and Bolotnaya. Xenophobia and radical nationalism and opposition to them in Russia in 2011 // SOVA Center. 2012. February 24 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2012/02/d23739/).

[24] Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 3, 2016 No. 41 Moscow "On Amendments to the Resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 9, 2012 No. 1 “On some issues of judicial practice in criminal cases on crimes of terrorist direction” // Website of the Supreme court of the Russian Federation. November 16, 2016 (http://www.vsrf.ru/Show_pdf.php?Id=11086).

[25] For approaches to law enforcement in this area, see: Rabatsky action plan to prohibit propaganda of national, racial or religious hatred, constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence // Center "Owl". 2014. November 7 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2014/11/d30593/).

[26] This report does not cover sentences handed down clearly unlawful, as well as sentences to members of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami.

[27] In the city of Samara, a local resident was found guilty of crimes of a terrorist nature // Official website of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Samara areas. 2017. November 21 (http://samara.sledcom.ru/news/item/1182233/).

[28] Two years probation for involvement in the activities of an extremist organizations // SOVA Center. 2017. September 29 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/09/d37965/).

[29] See also: In the Krasnodar Territory, a verdict in the case against members of the “Spiritual-tribal Power of Rus'” // SOVA Center. December 27, 2017 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/12/d38580/).

[30] As of February 15, 2018, there are 4382 items on the list.

The author thanks his colleague Mikhail Akhmetiev for their help in classifying this list and the Roskomnadzor registers.

[31] Read more see: Kravchenko M. Illegal anti-extremism in November 2016 // SOVA Center. 2016. December 5 (http://www.sova-center.ru/misuse/publications/2016/12/d35943/).

[32] See, for example, the relevant chapter in: Alperovich V., Yudina N. Old problems, new alliances. Xenophobia and radical nationalism

and countering them in 2016 in Russia // SOVA Center. 2017. March 22 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2017/03/d36630/).

[33] Supreme the court decided to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia // Center "Owl". 2017. April 20 (http://www.sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2017/04/d36871/).

[34] Nationalist movement liquidated in Syktyvkar "Frontier of the North" // SOVA Center. 2017. November 25 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2016/11/d35899/).

[35] The TOYS group is banned in Samara // SOVA Center. 2017. April 26 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/04/d37256/).

[36] Declared extremist by the Supreme Court of the Republic Crimea dated April 2, 2016. For more details, see: The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people is recognized extremist organization // SOVA Center. 2016. April 26 (http://www.sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2016/04/d34413/)

[37] The City Court of Naberezhnye Chelny liquidated the organization Rafisa Kashapova // SOVA Center. 2017. May 11 (http://www.sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2017/05/d37014/).

[38] Recognized as extremist by the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region on October 3, 2016.

[39] For more details, see the concurrent report on misconduct anti-extremism.

[40] The author thanks a colleague Maria Muradova for help in classifying the application of articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

[41] For more details, see the concurrent report on illegal anti-extremism..

[42] Report on the work of the courts of general jurisdiction on the consideration cases of administrative offenses for the first half of 2017 // Official website of the Supreme Court (http://www.cdep.ru/userimages/sudebnaya_statistika/2017/Adm_2017_1_st_half.xls).

[43] Report on the work of the courts of general jurisdiction on the consideration cases of administrative offenses in 2016 // Official website of the Supreme Court (http://www.cdep.ru/userimages/sudebnaya_statistika/2016/F1ap-svod-2016.xls).

[44] Report on the work of the courts of general jurisdiction on the consideration cases of administrative offenses for the first half of 2017…

[45] Report on the work of the courts of general jurisdiction on the consideration cases of administrative offenses in 2016…

[46] Dmitry Melash fined for a T-shirt with symbols Azov Battalion // SOVA Center. 2017. January 21 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/01/d36239/).

[47] More about the activity of the "Artillery preparation" and mass detentions in this regard, see: Alperovich Vera. This is a fiasco, gentlemen! Russian movement nationalists in the summer and autumn of 2017 // SOVA Center. 2017. December 26 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/publications/2017/12/d38558/).

[48] ​​Artpodgotovka movement activist fined for video on social networks // SOVA Center. 2017. July 10 (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2017/07/d37440/).

[49] See: Register of banned sites // Roskomsvoboda (http://reestr.rublacklist.net/).

[50] See up-to-date list: "Extremist Resources" in Unified Register of Banned Sites // SOVA Center (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/docs/2016/04/d34421/).

[51] Extremism is only a small part of this register; according to Roskomsvoboda, as of February 20, 2018, there were 67,543 entries in the registry.

[52] The full title is “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On information, information technologies and information protection”.

[53] See updated list: Resources in the registry of sites, blocked under Lugovoy's law // SOVA Center (http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/docs/2017/10/d38006/).

[54] Only part 1 of this show is banned, part 2 is not.

[55] This leads to the blocking of many obviously innocent sites just located on the same server.

[56] See for example: Yudina N. Anti-extremism in the virtual Russia...

Sources

• Yudina N. Opposition or imitation. State against inciting hatred and political activity of nationalists in Russia in 2017 // TC "Rain". February 28, 2018