The ECHR communicated complaints from Russians convicted of publishing swastikas

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) communicated 11 complaints from Russians convicted of posting swastikas on the Internet. This is reported by Kommersant, referring to the lawyer of the Agora International Human Rights Group Alexei Glukhov.

The ECtHR asked the Russian government if it was paying attention to the context of the swastika display. In addition, the court asked whether citizens who published posts before 2014 can now be found guilty if the article was changed that year. It was then that the restriction was lifted, which provided for administrative responsibility only for demonstrating German symbols for the purpose of propaganda. The ECtHR also asked if Russia needed a complete ban on the swastika, like the one introduced in Germany.

The authors of the complaints were found guilty by Russian courts of public display of Nazi symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). So, a resident of Kazan, Artur Gimaev, was arrested for eight days for the logo of a football fan club, which looks like half of a Kolovrat.

The head of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Parnassus Party, Andrey Linev, was arrested for seven days for a post with girls in Nazi uniforms on VKontakte. The activist reported that employees of the Center for Combating Extremism persuaded him to cooperate. When Linev refused, a case was opened against him for displaying Nazi symbols.

Kommersant notes that, according to statistics from the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court, the number of Russians found guilty under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is growing rapidly. In 2010, the courts issued 90 judgments of guilt, in 2013 - 256, in 2015 - 1202, and in 2017 - already 1655.