The ECHR communicated the complaint of a CSKA fan punished for inciting hatred towards Spartak

The Strasbourg Court raised the question before Russia whether Yevgeny Ogurtsov's right to freedom of expression had been violated.

On March 29, 2021, it became known that the European Court of Justice Human Rights Commission communicated the complaint of Evgeny Ogurtsov, a resident of Novocheboksarsk, in connection with his persecution under Art. 20.3.1 Administrative Code (incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity on the basis of belonging to a social group).

Recall that on May 7, 2019, the Novocheboksarsky City Court fined Ogurtsov 10 thousand rubles. Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The local resident then filed an appeal against this decision to the Supreme Court of Chuvashia, however, on June 13, 2019, he left the fine in strength.

The reason for the persecution of Ogurtsov, a fan of CSKA, was his poem "05/17/17", published by him under the pseudonym Eugene Ross in the collection "Voice of the Tribunes" (circulation - 300 copies). The poem was about defeat CSKA in the match with Spartak and contained unflattering statements in the address of the opponent's FC and his fans. On your page in "VKontakte" Ogurtsov posted a video "My firstborn "Voice of the Tribunes"" with a link to information on how to purchase the entire collection.

We believe that representatives of the Spartak club do not form vulnerable social group subject to special protection against manifestations of hatred. Ogurtsov in the poem "05/17/17" did not call for violent actions against them, and we believe that the reason for his persecution at all did not have. We also recall that we are in favor of exclusion from Art. 282 of the Criminal Code and 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the indefinite term "social group".

In August 2020, Ogurtsov's poem was included in the Federal List extremist materials.

Ogurtsov, in his complaint, insisted that by fining him, Russia had violated Art. 6 (right to a fair trial) and Art. 10 (freedom of expression opinions) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The European Court of Human Rights has set Russia the question of whether Ogurtsov's right to freedom was violated expressions of opinion.

The ECtHR asked for specific examples of expressions identified in the texts of Ogurtsov, which the national court considered inciting hatred, and evaluate the context of their publication.

In addition, the ECtHR inquired whether there are in the Russian grounds for recognizing fans of a sports team as special social group in the context of the application of norms on incitement to hatred and whether such a definition of a protected group appears to be necessary in democratic society in order to achieve legitimate aims.

The Court also asked for clarification on whether given the applicant enough time to prepare the defense before court session.

Sources

• The ECHR communicated the complaint of a CSKA fan convicted of poetry about Spartak // RAPSI. March 29, 2021