Bashkir activist Ismagilov released from criminal liability

Sagit Ismagilov released from fine under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code for reposting on the VKontakte social network.

On February 20, 2019, it became known that the Kumertau Interdistrict Court of Bashkortostan overturned the sentence in the case of Sagit Ismagilov, an activist of the Bashkir national movement, under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting national hatred) and freed him from criminal liability. This decision was made in connection with the partial decriminalization of this criminal law norm. From the case file on the court's website, it follows that the court issued the corresponding decision on February 7.

Ismagilov in 2017 was sentenced by the Leninsky District Court of Ufa to a fine of 320 thousand rubles, the Supreme Court of the Republic reduced the fine to 100 thousand rubles. He was blamed for the publication on the VKontakte social network of a text dedicated to the closure of the Institute for Humanitarian Studies in Ufa, which was engaged in research into the history of Bashkir clans, and the opening of a branch of the Tatar Institute. Shigabutdin Marjani. The author of the text in harsh terms accused the Tatars of the collapse of the Bashkir culture. The text was accompanied by a photograph of a page from a book with an excerpt from the poem "The Light of Hearts" by the 16th-century poet Mukhamedyar. A fragment of the poem contains invectives in relation to the Tatars of the Golden Horde.

The activist refused to pay the fine, after which, in 2018, the bailiff service petitioned to replace the fine with another type of punishment. Meanwhile, in connection with the decriminalization of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, a counter-application was filed by Ismagilov. It was satisfied, and on February 11 the court terminated the proceedings on the bailiffs' claim.

We argued that this sentence was unlawfully handed down to Ismagilov. In the text about the closure of the institute, from our point of view, there were no signs of inciting hatred, and the work of past centuries should not be assessed for compliance with the current idea of ​​tolerance and, moreover, legislation on extremism. The corresponding clarification was made in 2017 by the Constitutional Court of Russia. The totality of the two texts mentioned could indeed be considered as a statement aimed at humiliating dignity on a national basis, however, we believe that humiliation of dignity should be completely excluded from Art. 282 of the Criminal Code and be punished only administratively, since it does not pose a significant public danger.

Sources

• Artur Asafiev. Sentence of Bashkir activist Sagit Ismagilov canceled // Idel.Reality. February 20, 2019
• Case card No. 4/17-14/2019 // Website of the Kumertau Interdistrict Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan. February 7, 2019
• Case card No. 4/10-1/2019 (4/10-4/2018;) Website of the Kumertau Interdistrict Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan. February 11, 2019 //