The SOVA Center held an online presentation of two annual reports

On March 4, 2021, an online presentation of two reports of the Information and Analytical Center "SOVA" on the events of 2020 in Russia.

Director of the Center Alexander Verkhovsky spoke about the changes that have been made to the norms in the field of countering extremism and how this has affected the number of abuses in law enforcement, including how the state is expanding control over the internet and freedom of speech in general.

Head of the "Russian nationalism and xenophobia" section Natalia Yudina presented the report "Anti-extremism in quarantine: countering the incitement of hatred and political activity of nationalists". In her report, she talked about application of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in 2020 for non-violent crimes, based on statistics from the SOVA Center and data Supreme Court.

The head of the "Illegal anti-extremism" section, Maria Kravchenko, presented the report "Illegal application of anti-extremist legislation." In particular, she reported on the increase in 2020 in the number of unjustified persecutions for public statements, indicating an increase in the government’s intolerance of criticism, and spoke about the persecution of outlawed religious minorities.

Both reports provide statistics on opposition "extremist activity", including data on misuse anti-extremist legislation.

The full texts of the reports can be found on our website:

• "Anti-extremism in quarantine: countering the incitement of hatred and political activity of nationalists"

• "Illegal application of anti-extremist legislation"

Sources

• Press reviews:
• The number of convictions for extremist statements increased in 2020 // Vedomosti. 2021. March 5.
• 210 people convicted of extremist statements in 2020 // Pravo.ru. 2021. March 5.
• In Russia, a study shows that the number of sentences for statements that the authorities consider extremist is on the rise // Echo of Moscow. 2021. March 5.
• Human rights activists spoke about the protocol for inciting hatred against “quarantine violators” // TC "Rain". 2021. March 4.
• 130 Russians convicted in 2020 for public statements // Mediazone. 2021. March 4.
• The SOVA Center* held a presentation of two annual reports // Institute of Religion and Politics. 2021. March 4.
• Anton Ignatenko: in the Russian Federation, Muslim literature is less classified as extremist // IA IslamNew. 5th of March.
• The SOVA Center presented reports on the application of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in 2020 // CIVITAS.RU. 2021. March 5.
• Russian Media Digest - March 5 // Prime. 2021. March 5.