Unlawful anti-extremism in May 2018

We publish an overview of the main and most significant events in the field of misuse of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in May 2018.

Prosecution for inciting hatred and opposition statements On May 24, the Sudak City Court found local activists of the Anti-Corruption Bureau Dmitry Dzhigalov and Oleg Semenov guilty under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (humiliation of dignity on a national basis) and sentenced them to fines of 300 and 50 thousand rubles (including 6 months spent in a pre-trial detention center), respectively. The reason for the persecution was the publication on Dzhigalov's Youtube channel: law enforcement agencies considered that the video he shot contained Semenov's negative statements about the Bulgarians. It was not reported what specific statements were in question, and the version of the video that we managed to get acquainted with did not contain anything that would fall under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code: Semyonov only reproached the Bulgarians, who did not invite a delegation from Russia to the celebration of the anniversary of the country's liberation from the Ottoman yoke in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, of ingratitude towards the Russians. In addition, from our point of view, since the activist was not accused of calling for any illegal actions against the Bulgarians, there was no need for criminal prosecution: we believe that humiliation should be excluded from the criminal code as an act of minor gravity. It should also be taken into account that this is an isolated case: Semenov and Dzhigalov were not previously seen in xenophobic propaganda. Obviously, the real reason for the persecution of the activists was their social activities: the struggle of the Anti-Corruption Bureau against landfills, violation of construction standards, illegal allocation of land for development, etc., including active criticism of local authorities and the publication of materials accusing them of corruption .

On the same day, in Ingushetia, local opposition activist Magomed Khazbiev, who had previously been arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons (Article 222 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a government official (Part 1 of Article 319 of the Criminal Code), was charged with a new charge under Part 1 Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement of hatred or humiliation on the basis of belonging to a social group). Khazbiev is accused of inciting hatred against a social group of government officials on the basis of a three-hour video interview he gave to the GialgIayche website. From the point of view of the authors of the psychological and linguistic examination, which formed the basis of the accusation, Khazbiev's words contained signs of inciting hostility towards the head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and the authorities of the republic as a whole. The experts considered that Khazbiev's interview "contains elements of a realized intention to humiliate (offend) the individual - Yevkurov and groups of people - representatives of the Parliament, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the "environment" of the President of the Republic, that is, all power structures of Ingushetia ", as well as " signs of incitement to change the current government in the Republic of Ingushetia ", including Yevkurov. From our point of view, the persecution of Khazbiev under Article 282 of the Criminal Code is unlawful. Incitement to change power, not associated with calls for unlawful actions, refers to The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation opposes the interpretation of harsh anti-government statements as part of Article 282 of the Criminal Code: according to the decision of the Supreme No. Court persons, their actions and beliefs " should not in itself be considered in all cases as an act aimed at humiliating the dignity of a person or a group of persons, since the limits of permissible criticism are wider in relation to these persons than in relation to private persons" .

At the end of the month in Chelyabinsk, as part of an investigation under Part 2 of Art. 213 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism committed by an organized group motivated by political hatred) a series of searches took place at a number of participants in the opposition action "He is not our king", including Karina Kupriyanova, Dmitry Deminenko, Alim Kurgaliev, Pavel Giniyatulin and the coordinator of Boris Navalny's headquarters Zolotarevsky, who became a suspect in the case. According to the police, the participants in the uncoordinated procession, " expressing clear disrespect for society, publicly, openly, in the presence of people, realizing that they grossly violate public order and cause obvious disrespect for society, showing political hatred, chanted hostile, unfriendly, hostile, imbued with social hate slogans in relation to the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin: “Putin is a thief”, “one, two, three, Putin - go away”, as well as in relation to the Governor of the Chelyabinsk region Dubrovsky B.A.: “Dubrovsky to resign” " . One of the search warrants also noted that the disturbers of the peace acted " based on political hatred and enmity ". In our opinion, chanting slogans calling for a non-violent change of persons in leadership positions of the state and the region, as well as accusing them of bad faith, not only is not a manifestation of political hostility, but should not be qualified as hooliganism, because it does not in itself violate public order.

Persecution of religious organizations and believers

On May 7, the European Court of Human Rights communicated the complaint of 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, their chairmen and ordinary members. The complaint relates to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on April 20, 2017 to ban the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and local communities of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist, liquidate all these organizations and convert their property to the benefit of the state. The applicants dispute this decision as discriminatory and further point out that the Russian court failed to provide local organizations with the opportunity to participate in the hearings on the ban. The ECtHR has raised relevant questions before Russia. Earlier, in December 2017, the European Court partially communicated and promised to consider as a matter of priority the complaint of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and its chairman Vasily Kalin, challenging the warning about the inadmissibility of extremist activities issued to the Administrative Center by the Prosecutor General's Office in March 2016, as well as the decision of the Supreme court to ban organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.

We have no doubt that the liquidation of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia for extremism, the persecution of members of their communities and the banning of texts have no legal basis and are indeed a manifestation of religious discrimination.

In May, law enforcement agencies in various regions of Russia continued active persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for continuing the activities of their communities (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, organization of the activities of an organization banned for extremism and participation in it), which had unfolded a month earlier.

On May 16, in the Orenburg region, as part of a criminal investigation, a series of searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. Searches were carried out at 18 addresses. 15 believers were detained, three were arrested (Vladislav Kolbanov was placed under house arrest; Alexander Suvorov and Vladimir Kochnev were sent to a pre-trial detention center). 11 people received the status of defendants.

On May 17, at least 9 searches took place in the dwellings of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. 55-year-old Alam Aliyev was arrested, but later the court order on the arrest was challenged, Aliyev was released.

On May 22, Jehovah's Witness Alexander Solovyov was detained in Perm and later placed under house arrest.

On May 27, ten apartments of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Naberezhnye Chelny. Three people were arrested: Ilham Karimov, Vladimir Myakushin and Konstantin Matrashov.

On May 31, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Ivanovo Region announced the initiation of a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing of an extremist organization) in relation to a 40-year-old resident of Shuya, whose name is not known, he was detained. Earlier, in April, a case was initiated in Shuya under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, 40-year-old Dmitry Mikhailov became a suspect, he was released on bail.

In addition, on May 22, the Komsomolsky District Court of Togliatti, Samara Region, fined 1,000 rubles under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (mass distribution of extremist materials) to local resident A. Semenova, who in February 2015 posted on her page on the VKontakte social network a link to the website of Jehovah's Witnesses (jw.org), which was recognized as extremist and included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

On May 31, the Izberbash City Court of the Republic of Dagestan sentenced Ilgar Aliyev to eight years in prison in a general regime colony, finding him guilty of organizing the activities of the Nurjular extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and involving in the activities of this organization (part 1.1 article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Aliyev, born in 1977, was detained in April 2017. According to the investigation, with which the court agreed, he conducted classes in Izberbash, Makhachkala and Khasavyurt to study the works of the Muslim theologian Said Nursi, involved young people in the activities of the cell, and also attended international conferences and forums organized by his followers. Aliyev's sentence is the most severe sentence known to us for studying Nursi's heritage; such a long term of imprisonment is explained by the fact that he was charged simultaneously under two parts of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code. From our point of view, Nursi's books do not contain any signs of extremism. They are studied in Russia by individual believers who do not form a single group. As a result of the ban on the Nurcular association, which never existed in reality, they face unreasonable persecution - formally for continuing the activities of an extremist organization, but in reality - for studying moderate Islamic religious literature.

On May 10, in Sevastopol, police and FSB officers, on suspicion of collaborating with the radical Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia as a terrorist party, detained two Crimean Tatars, Ernes and Enver Seitosmanov, cousins ​​convicted for involvement in this organization in September 2016 years of Nuri Primov. The security forces searched their house and their mother's house in the village of Sadovoe. Enver Seitosmanov was arrested on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). His brother Ernes and their mother received the status of witnesses in the case.

On May 21, in the Bakhchisarai region of Crimea, FSB officers detained and the next day arrested two Muslims, Server Mustafaev and Edem Smailov, on charges of participating in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The criminal case initiated against them has been merged with another case against Bakhchisarai followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir, initiated earlier.

We believe that the radical ideology of Hizb ut-Tahrir did not give grounds for banning the party as a terrorist one, and that accusing its members of promoting terrorism only on the basis of party activities (holding meetings, reading literature, etc.) and persecuting them under anti-terrorist articles illegally.