Racism and xenophobia. Results of March 2019

In March 2019, the SOVA Center is aware of two hate-motivated attacks - in Voronezh and Yakutsk. Media coverage was caused by mass riots “with ethnic overtones” in Yakutsk, where the rape of a woman provoked a series of threats to migrants and pogroms of vegetable stalls.

In total, since the beginning of the year, according to our data, as a result of violence motivated by national or ideological hatred, 1 person was killed and at least 8 people were beaten in five regions of the country.

In March, we became aware of the desecration of the grave of the 19th-century Jewish teacher Israel Salanter in the Jewish cemetery in Kaliningrad and of the broken cross at the Tatar settlement in Stavropol. And these are the only acts of vandalism known to us since the beginning of the year.

Among the mass actions of nationalists, it is worth noting the sanctioned rally that took place on March 17 in Moscow on Suvorov Square. It was organized by the permanent Organizing Committee, created after the rally in defense of the Kuril Islands in Moscow, and gathered about a thousand people. The organizing committee includes various organizations: “Left Front” (Sergei Udaltsov), PARTY OF CASE (Alexey Lapushkin), Coordination Council of the Opposition (Igor Skurlatov), ​​Movement “Novorossiya” (Igor Strelkov), ROY TV (Maxim Kalashnikov), All-Russian Defense Committee territorial integrity of the country (Sergey Skvortsov), “Civil Solidarity” (Georgy Fedorov), “The Other Russia” (Mikhail Axel), as well as Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. Participants in the action held flags with the symbols of the listed organizations, imperial flags, flags with the symbols of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and a banner “For a visa regime.” The resolution of the meeting was read at the end by the leader of the Novorossiya movement, Igor Strelkov.

In addition, several nationalist groups participated in a rally against the isolation of the Runet, which took place on March 10 in Moscow. Representatives of the Right Bloc, the Nation and Freedom Committee, the Association of Popular Resistance (ANS), the National Revolutionary Vanguard (NRA), and the Young Conservatives movement (the new name of the Honor and Freedom movement) were seen at the action. ANS activist Anastasia Zinovkina was detained.

In March, we know of two convictions for racist violence. Both were sentenced in St. Petersburg. Among those convicted was a member of the Lincoln-88 group, Sergei Katkov,sentenced to 9 years in prison for murder and several attacks on people with “non-Slavic appearance.” In total, since the beginning of the year, 3 sentences have been handed down against 4 people for violent crimes in which the courts recognized the motive of hatred - in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In March, 4 sentences were handed down against 4 people in 4 regions of the country for xenophobic statements. Two sentences were passed under Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code (justification of terrorism), two - under Article 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities). Convictions under Article 205.2 were handed down in one case for calls to go to Syria and join armed forces there, in another - for calls to blow up FSB buildings. We do not know what statements were sentenced under Article 280 for.

In total, since the beginning of the year, at least 29 sentences have been passed for racist and other propaganda, in which 33 people were convicted in 17 regions of the country, not counting the sentences that we consider clearly unlawful.

In another three cases, the cases were dismissed “due to the lack of corpus delicti” by the courts and in one case by the investigation, which is associated with the partial decriminalization of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred). In connection with the decriminalization of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code in March, four previously passed sentences under this article were overturned, and the convicts were released from serving their sentences. The most famous of them is the ex-leader of the banned far-right movement “People's Socialist Initiative” (NSI) Dmitry (Shchultz) Bobrov .

The federal list of extremist materials was updated twice in a month – on March 13 and 14. Paragraphs 4853-4868 were added to it. The list was supplemented by an anti-Semitic book by the Nazi philosopher Hans Alfred Grunsky, the latest works of the former head of the Russian Press Committee, the author of a number of anti-Semitic works Boris Mironov, a collection of poems by the right-wing radical poet Nikolai Bogolyubov, books by Orthodox fundamentalists and neo-pagans, books from the now closed Library of Ukrainian Literature, numerous xenophobic videos from social networks, as well as one Christian book criticizing Islam.

According to our data, at least 23 people were fined in March under Art. 20.29 Code of Administrative Offenses (production and distribution of prohibited materials). They were punished for republishing on social networks songs popular among far-right groups “Russian Flag”, “Argentina”, “25/17”, “14.88”, the anti-Semitic and neo-pagan film “Games of the Gods”, songs of the bard of the armed Chechen resistance Timur Mutsuraev.

At least 14 more people were fined under Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code (propaganda and public display of Nazi symbols and symbols of banned organizations). The vast majority were punished for publishing images with Nazi symbols or symbols of banned organizations on the VKontakte social network. In only one case, Nazi symbols were demonstrated offline: in Irkutsk, a drunk man rode down a children's slide and danced in the school yard, then drew a swastika on his forehead and on the right side of his chest with a marker, went into the school building, where he showed the drawings to everyone.

We know of nine people punished under the new article. 20.3.1 Code of Administrative Offenses (incitement of national hatred), corresponding in composition to Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, in different regions of Russia. Seven people were fined, one was arrested for three days, one was sentenced to forced labor for publishing xenophobic video files, audio files and other materials on social networks.

Our data on criminal and administrative cases is presented without taking into account court decisions, which we consider clearly unlawful. Unfortunately, quantitative data, especially in relation to the Code of Administrative Offences, are significantly incomplete.