Unlawful anti-extremism in September 2018

We we publish an overview of the main and most significant events in the field of illegal application of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in September 2018.

Rulemaking

September 20, 2018 The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a new Decree on the application of anti-extremist articles of the Criminal Code, introducing changes to a similar document in 2011 . The Supreme Court pointed out that when using anti-extremist articles, fundamental freedoms may be limited only in extreme cases, in accordance with the Constitution and international law.

Most of recommendations concerned the consideration of cases under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) for publications in the Internet. The Supreme Court clarified how the context of a public statements in order to decide on the motive of the actions of the accused in inciting hatred and whether his statement poses a danger to society. He recommended to take into account the form, content and volume publication of certain materials, including previously recognized extremist, the context of the publication, the presence of comments characterizing the attitude of the publisher to the material, the content of his account as a whole, data on his personality and activities, the context of the publication, the size and composition of the audience, familiarized with the post, and its relation to the published. The Supreme Court also pointed to the opportunity to appeal against decisions to initiate cases in court based on the statement the above circumstances. Unfortunately, all these clarifications were made only in relation to Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, although, obviously, the same should apply to others articles on public statements (articles 280, 280.1, partly 354.1 of the Criminal Code).

The Supreme Court also raised the issue of application of expertise when considering cases under Art. 280 (calls for extremist activities), 280.1 (calls to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation) and 282 UK. The Supreme Court pointed out that an expert opinion on them does not have a prior established force and does not take precedence over other evidence, and the question of evaluating certain public statements for the presence of composition of anti-extremist articles belongs exclusively to the competence of the court. In our opinion, it is essential to change the vicious practice in general application of expertise in cases of extremist crimes could indicate that any expert opinions in which legal issues must be rejected as inadmissible evidence.

Prosecution for inciting hatred and opposition statements

At the beginning of the month, as a result of the audit, the UK adopted the decision is nevertheless to initiate a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code against the activist feminist movement from Omsk Lyubov Kalugina. The activist was charged with excitation in the social network of hatred towards men. The statements contained in it posts that caused complaints from law enforcement agencies differed in degrees of aggression - from crude humor to those in which one can see signs of humiliation and calls for violence. However, we believe that public danger of aggressive statements by radical feminists small, since their rhetoric is not connected with the practice of applying the real violence, and there was no need to prosecute Kalugina.

In those same day it became known that at the end of August in Saratov a criminal case on Art. 282 of the Criminal Code was initiated against a local resident Natalya Kovaleva. Her accused of inciting hatred towards the social group "judicial community" for publishing videos on your own YouTube channel with satirical songs and statements to the authorities in which she denounced " corruption, nepotism, curatorship ", in her opinion, practiced in the judicial community of the Saratov region. In the case, an acquaintance of Kovaleva was also interrogated, sixty-year-old Galina Kolpakova, who posted videos on her channel Kovaleva, as well as his own appeals to the President of Russia. It was initiated as a result of an audit conducted on the complaint of the Saratov Regional court, the head of which was the main target of criticism in the materials of Kovaleva. We We believe that the case under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code was initiated in this case unlawfully. Kovaleva's publications were not directed against the entire judicial community in In general, they dealt with only a few of its representatives. In addition, on our opinion, judges are not among the vulnerable social groups that need special protection against manifestations of hatred; We generally advocate an exception to anti-extremist legislation of the vague concept of "social group" because its use leads to abuse. In addition, in Kovaleva's videos, we did not find any aggressive appeals that would deserved to be prosecuted as dangerous.

In September, we learned of four cases of wrongful prosecution under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for demonstrating prohibited content on the VKontakte network symbols. It is characteristic that in all four cases we are talking about activists. headquarters of Navalny, and in three of them - about activists from the Kemerovo region. The reason for drawing up a protocol against Oleg Astafiev from Novokuznetsk was the publication of the group's animated clip "Red Mold" 2005 "Punk Anthem" about the struggle of punks with Nazis. In Novokuznetsk, seventeen-year-old Lev Gammer was brought to responsible for the publication of four humorous videos, three of which were a cut from comedies about Hitler and Nazism, and the fourth in satirically described the history of the Second World War; in all four videos featured a swastika. In Kemerovo, Serafima Tebenikhina received a summons for repost pictures depicting symbols of different religions that are allowed for decoration of tombstones by the US Department of Veterans Affairs: among them was the emblem of the Japanese syncretic religion Seite-No Ie, which contains a right-handed swastika, markedly different from the Nazi one. About the outcome the above three administrative cases in the Kemerovo region information Not yet. In addition, in Ulyanovsk, the court fined Vlad Maryin for publishing comic character, containing the image of the flag of ISIS banned in Russia.

Publications by four activists were not aimed at promoting Nazism or ISIS ideology, and we consider them persecution unlawful. Obviously, law enforcement agencies are looking for such materials in social networks, so that there is a reason to put pressure on activists: in September, this was especially relevant in connection with the all-Russian campaign Navalny's supporters are against pension reform. So, according to Vlad Maryin, after the trial, a local ETC officer advised him to "restrain his zeal in opposition activities." As a result, Navalny's supporters in Ulyanovsk decided not to go to the action, replacing it with a series of single pickets.

The pursuit religious organizations and believers

In mid-September Babushkinsky The Moscow District Court delivered a verdict in the case of the Moscow cell banned Islamic religious movement "Tablighi Jamaat", The defense appealed the verdict. Eight people received various terms of deprivation freedom, from four to six and a half years under Parts 1 and 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization activity of an extremist organization and participation in it). All convicts were detained in Moscow and Kazan in December 2016 - January 2017. They were accused that in June-July 2016 they staged cell meetings in an apartment in Moscow, studying forbidden literature and attracting to participate in the movement of new supporters. During the course of the case, four The defendants said they were beaten and tortured with electric shocks by FSB officers. In the middle June, the court interrupted the proceedings for almost a month and sent reports of torture for verification to the Investigative Committee, but the department did not find violations in actions of the FSB. International Religious Organization "Tablighi" Jamaat" was recognized as extremist in Russia in 2009. We We regard this ban as unlawful: the association of Tablighi Jamaat" is preaching his version of Islam and was not noticed any calls for violence.

Privolzhsky District in early September, a military court passed a verdict in the case of Amir, a resident of Chelyabinsk Karymov, accused under Part 2 of Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code (participation in activities terrorist organization) in involvement in the banned in Russia Islamic religious party Hizb ut-Tahrir. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years and nine months in a penal colony for participating in activities local "cell" of the party and the involvement of new members in it. We believe, that the radical Hizb ut-Tahrir party could be banned as extremist organization, but not as a terrorist organization, because it does not practiced violence. Accordingly, the persecution of supporters is also unlawful. "Hizb ut-Tahrir" on anti-terrorist articles only on the basis of their party activities (holding meetings, reading literature, etc.).

On charges of distribution of prohibited religious literature in September under Art. 20.29 Administrative Code at least two citizens were prosecuted. IN Karachay-Cherkessia was fined Murat Mamedguseinov, who was accused of that he kept in order to distribute the "Book of Monotheism" by the Saudi theologian Salih al-Fawzan. "The Book of Monotheism" contains sharp criticism of apostasy from the true, from the point of view of the author, Islam, however does not advocate the use of violence against those he considers apostates or unfaithful. We consider the prohibition of this book unlawful, accordingly, on our view, illegal and persecution for its dissemination. in Feodosia fined Smail Temindarov, head of the urological department of the city hospitals. The administrative case was initiated after the hospital prayer room room in the hospital, FSB officers found religious literature recognized extremist (which one was not reported). Temindarov himself pleaded not guilty to committing an offense, rightly noting that in his professional duties do not include control over the circulation of literature in the prayer room. WITH from our point of view, it would be more logical to fine those who bring such literature to the hospital; in addition, the prosecutor's office could make a submission on the elimination of violations of the law against the hospital administration.

In Perm in September sent under house arrest on charges under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization activities of an extremist organization) Igor Turik and Viktor Kuchkov; V 77-year-old Boris Burylov is also accused in the case. They are accused in the continuation of the activities of the local community of Jehovah's Witnesses. In April 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia adopted a decision to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses are extremist. With our point of view, this decision, which became the basis for criminal prosecution believers had no legal basis.