Saratov: the criminal case on the rehabilitation of Nazism and calls for extremism has been dropped

In June 2020, a court in Saratov freed a local resident from criminal liability and imposed a court fine on him.

In September 2019, it became known that in Saratov a criminal case was initiated against 40-year-old local resident Sergei Myasnikov under Part 1 of Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code (rehabilitation of Nazism). Later it was reported that Part 2 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremism).

The reason for initiating the case was that in October 2018, on the page of the Saratov Online community on the VKontakte social network, the suspect published materials containing signs of approval of the crimes of the Third Reich, namely “the organization of mass murders of mentally ill and physically handicapped persons” .

In March 2020, the case was brought to court, but soon the judge returned the case back to the prosecutor's office to eliminate the errors found.

In June 2020, the case was again submitted to the Saratov Regional Court for consideration, where a decision was soon made on the case.

The court decided to stop the criminal prosecution and impose a court fine on Myasnikov in the amount of 40,000 rubles.

Recall that the practice of sending criminal cases by investigators to the court for their termination and the appointment of a criminal law measure in the form of a judicial fine to the accused was introduced into the legislation since July 2016. This criminal law institution is designed to enable people who have committed crimes of small and medium gravity for the first time and who have completely compensated for the harm caused by the crime in a legal way to avoid criminal liability.

It is reported that Myasnikov apologized and made amends by providing charitable assistance to the Caring Hearts foundation for supporting the rights of families and children, the Engels Children's Clinical Hospital, and the staff of the Engels Ambulance Station.   Sources

• In Saratov, a criminal case was initiated against a local resident on the fact of approval of Nazism // Southern transport prosecutor's office. 2019. September 24.
• In Saratov, the regional court for the first time stopped the criminal case on extremism and the rehabilitation of Nazism // Saratov version. June 16, 2020