The cassation court confirmed the decision to recognize Falun Dafa as an extremist organization

The Court of Cassation dismissed the complaint against the decision of the Fifth Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction.

On July 8, 2021, the Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction dismissed the complaint of Sergei Tuguzhekov and other applicants against the decision of the Fifth Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction to liquidate and recognize as extremist the Khakass regional public organization for the spiritual and physical self-improvement of a person under the Great Law of Falun "Falun Dafa".

Recall that on July 30, 2020, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Khakassia refused to satisfy this claim to the prosecutor's office, but the department appealed this decision. On November 10, 2020, the Fifth Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction on appeal satisfied the claim of the department.

The deputy prosecutor of Khakassia argued in the lawsuit that the unregistered Khakassia Falun Dafa organization was founded in 2006. In 2011, the book "Zhuan Falun", written by the founder of the teachings of "Falun Dafa" Li Hongzhi, was recognized as extremist. In January 2014, employees of the FSB of Russia for Khakassia found three copies of the book "Zhuan Falun" and 19 copies of the book "Falun Dafa" at a meeting of the organization, identical in content. Another copy of Zhuan Falun was found in the possession of one of the members of the organization, and in July of the same year, a member of the organization was punished under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (mass distribution of extremist materials) for publishing a link to a banned book. In 2016, for distributing Zhuan Falun in a park, the head of the organization, Sergei Tuguzhekov, was issued a warning against extremist activity. In 2017, Tuguzhekov was fined under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In 2019, under the same article, he was arrested for three days V. Vinogradov. From the foregoing, the deputy prosecutor concluded that the Khakass Falun Dafa organization has been carrying out extremist activities for a long time, and did not stop it after issuing a warning.

According to the followers of the practice of "Falun Gong", the Khakass organization "Falun Dafa" ceased its activities in 2017, and tried to notify the state authorities about it. However, the prosecutor's office stated that they did not receive the minutes of the meeting of the organization, at which the decision was made to dissolve it.

From a press release published by the Supreme Court of Khakassia on August 14, it follows that the court of first instance came to the conclusion that " at the time of the consideration of the case, the circumstances and conditions that are the basis for the ban on the activity of a public association have not been established ." According to the court, the plaintiff's demands to ban the organization's activities were disproportionate to the violations committed. The court pointed out that no facts of mass distribution of extremist materials by the organization were established, there were only isolated cases of violation of the law by its participants, for which they were held accountable. The prosecutor's office did not refute the arguments of the persons concerned, who insisted that at the meetings they only practiced qigong and discussed personal problems.

The treatise "Zhuan Falun" was declared extremist on the grounds that it promotes the superiority of adherents of the ideology of "Falun Gong" over other people. From our point of view, propaganda of the truth of one's own beliefs cannot be regarded as inciting hatred, and the book does not contain calls for violence, so the ban is unlawful. From the point of view of the prosecutor's office, the extremist activities of the Khakass organization "Falun Dafa" consisted only in the distribution of this book.

We believe that the demand to ban this organization was groundless, and its satisfaction was unlawful.

We also recall that on July 20, 2020, the Prosecutor General's Office declared the activities of seven foreign and international Falun Dafa organizations undesirable in Russia.

The new religious movement "Falun Dafa" is built around the practice of qigong gymnastics combined with elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. It is banned and persecuted in China; in turn, adherents of the doctrine abroad sharply criticize the Chinese authorities.

Sources

• Case card No. 8a-10339/2021 [88a-11391/2021] // Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction. 2021. July 8.