The President signs a ban on displaying the faces of Nazi criminals

The law includes images of leaders of Nazi groups, organizations or movements in the definition of extremist materials.

On July 1, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law amending the federal laws "On Perpetuating the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and "On Counteracting Extremist Activities."

It was submitted to the Duma in November 2020 by a group of State Duma deputies headed by Elena Yampolskaya, and on February 17, 2021 it was adopted in the first reading. On June 9, 2021, the bill was amended , on June 15 it was adopted in the second reading, and on June 16 in the third . On June 23, the law was approved by the Federation Council.

According to the text of the law, the definition of extremist materials (clause 3, part 1 of the Federal Law "On countering extremist activity") includes "speeches, images of leaders of groups, organizations or movements recognized as criminal in accordance with the verdict <...> of the Nuremberg Tribunal)" , as well as "speeches, images of leaders of organizations that collaborated with these groups, organizations or movements."

Accordingly, in Part 2 of Art. 6 (combating manifestations of fascism) of the Federal Law "On the perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", a ban is introduced on the demonstration of images of prominent Nazis recognized as extremist materials, as well as portraits of leaders of collaborationist structures, which are determined in the manner established by the government. At the same time, by analogy with the ban on the use of Nazi symbols, those cases are excluded from the effect of this ban, when a negative attitude towards the ideology of Nazism is formed and there are no signs of propaganda or justification of Nazism.

We believe that the task of legal counteraction to the spread of Nazi ideology, in principle, may involve the suppression of the use of portraits of Nazi leaders and collaborators in a propaganda context. The amendments to the law "On the Perpetuation of the Victory" are also designed to take into account the context of displaying Nazi portraits - with the help of a note that is already in force with respect to Nazi symbols and removes from the ban cases of displaying images in which "a negative attitude towards the ideology of Nazism is formed and there are no signs of propaganda or justification for Nazi ideology. However, this formulation does not cover all possible ways of using these portraits outside the propaganda context. In particular, it does not include cases of using such portraits as a means of criticizing contemporary politicians, as well as in humorous works in which it is impossible to discern either a positive or negative attitude towards Nazism.

It should also be taken into account that the note limiting the cases of prohibition on the display of images, included in the law "On the perpetuation of the Victory" and Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda or public demonstration of prohibited symbols), is absent in the law "On countering extremist activity" and Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (mass distribution of extremist materials). The latter, in its current version, provides for administrative liability only for the distribution of extremist materials included in the federal list, while the purpose of distribution is not taken into account.

In our opinion, the adopted innovations create a situation of legal uncertainty. The Law on Combating Extremist Activities, which would designate portraits of prominent Nazis and collaborators as extremist materials, would allow prosecutors to file lawsuits in courts to ban such portraits on the sole basis that they depict relevant historical figures. The very status of extremist material is assigned to the material as such, regardless of the context in which it is disseminated. The question then arises as to which portraits should be banned. Front doors? Unceremonious? And the portraits in which the Nazis are depicted as children? Photos? Graphics? Painting? In what style? Should a cubist portrait of Hitler be banned? What about a portrait drawn by a child? What considerations should be guided by prosecutors and courts? The definition of extremist materials in the law states that these are materials "calling for the implementation of extremist activities or substantiating or justifying the need for such activities." But how can a portrait in itself call or justify? Further, after the ban, the portrait must be included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials. How should it be described there so that citizens understand exactly which portrait is prohibited and not publish it? Obviously, a portrait is not at all the type of object that should be recognized as extremist material, and it is simply impossible to correctly prescribe a ban on portraits in the law.

Sources

• Federal Law No. 280-FZ of July 1, 2021 "On Amendments to Article 6 of the Federal Law "On Perpetuating the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Counteracting Extremist Activities" // Official Internet portal of legal information. 2021. July 1st.