Arkhangelsk activist arrested for emotional comments after gubernatorial elections

Ruslan Akhmetshin was arrested for 10 days under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for humiliating characteristics of Arkhangelsk voters.

On June 16, 2021, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk arrested local activist Ruslan Akhmetshin for 10 days, finding him guilty of an administrative offense under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity).

The reason was a post that Akhmetshin published on his VKontakte page on September 13, 2020, and several comments left by the activist in the discussion that unfolded under this post. Akhmetshin's statements contained rough descriptions of the residents of the Arkhangelsk region who did not come to the polls, as well as those who voted for Alexander Tsybulsky.

The decision to initiate proceedings on an administrative offense was drawn up on December 30, 2020. It followed from it that Akhmetshin's statements were aimed at humiliating the dignity of groups of people "inhabitants of Russia; citizens of Russia", as well as "the Russian population living in the Arkhangelsk North."

The materials of the case were twice rejected by the court. On January 14, 2021, the court returned the case to the prosecutor's office, pointing out many violations: the place of the offense and the communication device with which the publications were made were not established; there were no documents in the case confirming Akhmetshin's involvement in posting publications on VKontakte; there was no ruling on the appointment of a linguistic examination in the case, Akhmetshin was not aware of it and could not put his questions before the expert; the conclusions of the examination did not indicate which expressions contain linguistic signs of humiliation of dignity; documents on qualifications and experience of the expert were not attached to the conclusion. On April 9, the court again rejected the case materials, pointing to other violations: now there was a ruling on the appointment of an examination in the case, however, it was entrusted to the CPE of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Arkhangelsk Region and carried out by a specialist, not an expert, moreover, who was not an employee of the CPE itself; the decision did not mention that Akhmetshin was charged with the statement of September 14, 2020; now the case materials contained information about the IP addresses from which they accessed the page on VKontakte, but there was no information from the provider about who exactly used these IPs and where.

We got acquainted with the statements of Akhmetshin. The activist in his post and comments not only did not call for violence, but also did not insult the Russians in general and the Russian population of the North in particular. His statements concerned those residents of the Arkhangelsk region, whose actions in the elections disappointed him. However, we believe that citizens united on the basis of behavior in elections should not be considered a vulnerable social group protected by Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In addition, we generally advocate the exclusion of the vague concept of "social group" from anti-extremist legislation. In essence, Akhmetshin's remarks were made within the framework of a sharp political controversy characteristic of the election period, and they can indeed be called rude. However, we have no reason to think that they could entail any socially dangerous consequences. Therefore, we believe that there are sufficient grounds for holding the activist liable under Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses in this case was not.

Sources

• In Arkhangelsk, an activist was arrested because of a comment about the elections on VKontakte // MBKh media. 2021. June 16.
• Case card No. 5-234/2021 // Website of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk. 2021. March 4.
• Case card No. 5-234/2021 // Website of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk. 2021. March 4.
• Case card No. 5-1597/2021 // Website of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk. 2021. June 16.