Nine protocols. The head of the "Apology of Protest" by Alexei Glukhov is judged all week for old links to "undesirable organization"

In Chuvashia, the courts are going on the head of “Apology of Protest” by Alexei Glukhov: one day, ten administrative protocols at once - for the retweet (it mentioned the slogan “[Roskomnadzor] or death!”) And for nine hyperlinks for a long -working website of “Open Russia” (it was recognized as an “undesirable organization”).

- At the end of July, they called me from the prosecutor's office: “Hello, assistant prosecutor. So and so, there is material, you should take an explanation from you. ” I understand that this is something related to the Internet. "Have you found something on the Internet once again?" -"Yes, yes." - "What, many, did you find a lot?" - "Oh, full." - "In what networks?" - "Well, mainly Facebook." - "And what is there?" “Mostly participation in an undesirable organization,” the human rights activist Alexei Glukhov retells the conversation with the employee of the Novocheboksarsk prosecutor's office. - I came [July 30 to the prosecutor's office], I saw a stack on the table, probably 45 centimeters high - materials that were sent to the Novocheboksary prosecutor’s office from the FSB in the Chuvash Republic.

The project “Apology of protest”, which is headed by Glukhov, has launched in 2018 - since then the project lawyers have constantly helped detained demonstration participants.

Glukhov is a member of the election commission with a ruling vote, therefore, it is possible to bring him to administrative responsibility only with the sanction of the prosecutor of the republic. So on July 30, the human rights activist took an explanation and released.

Protocol First: Deputy Milonov in the T -shirt "[Roskomnadzor] or Death"

To draw up the protocols, the human rights activist was called to the prosecutor’s office only a month later, on August 26. Glukhov came with a lawyer Alexander the tie.

“To protect yourself is worthless,” Glukhov laughs.

The first protocol was drawn up for the distribution of extremist materials (Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses); The punishment on it is up to 15 days of arrest. The basis for him was the report of an employee of the Chuvash FSB, who claimed that on July 6, 2021 he studied and established that five years ago, he retweeted the video “Grani.ru” about the deputy of the State Duma Vitaly Milonov - and in this video the extremist slogan “Roskomnadzor] or Death” flashes.

“Half an hour later, a call to the prosecutor’s assistant:“ You don’t tighten it there, bring already arrest material, we don’t want to work at night, ”Glukhov recalls. - Okay, the assistant prosecutor says: "And let's go to court." Fortunately [Novocheboksary City Court], a seven minutes of walking from the prosecutor's office. We reached the court, our legal positions showed. They filed a request for the call of the Chekists. The main question: how could you take on my twitter and suddenly stumble upon the post of 2016, after which there were still two tweets, if not three. How? They write that during the "Internet monitoring" was found. Of course, such a random way to detect.

The court that day satisfied the petition of the human rights activist and his lawyer, the meeting was postponed on September 16. On this day, the court nevertheless found Glukhov guilty and appointed him 1,500 rubles of a fine.

The Chuvash security forces with the slogan "[Roskomnadzor] or death" special relations-local activists have repeatedly tried either because of the photographs of the deputy Milonov in a T-shirt with such an inscription, then for mentioning the slogan in the news of the courts for this slogan or simply in a commentary on them. Some of the activists were defended by Alexey Glukhov.

For Glukhov, this is also not the first protocol for "Roskomnadzor] or death." In 2018, he was already judged for two posts: the record of the trial of the activist Dmitry Semenov and the commentary of the user unknown to the nickname “Evil Russian” under another post (a seditious slogan was also mentioned in the commentary). The prosecutor then advocated the termination of the case, the Novocheboksarsky city court acquitted Glukhov on the first episode, but found guilty of someone else's commentary and fined a thousand rubles. The complaint about this decision has already been communicated by the ECHR.

“In 2018 [I was convicted], two years after this other people's commentary, [the current] administrative five years later,” Glukhov lists. - It is purely physically anywhere in the search engines. I tried on Twitter to find this publication, I was not allowed to crawl beyond 2018. I am sure that these things were simply screened for a long time and updated in July. It is impossible in an hour, as they write in the act, research on the Internet resource to find a post by chance. This is generally a systemic problem of the Code of Administrative Offenses, because there are no deadlines, they consider [any old post on the social network] to a consent of an offense.

But one protocol was not limited. On the same day, on August 26, when the court postponed the meeting on the issue of “[Roskomnadzor] or death”, Glukhov and his lawyer Alexander Porruk returned to the prosecutor's office.

There, nine more protocols were compiled by the human rights activist-now on charges of participating in the activities of an “unwanted organization” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) due to eight posts on Facebook and one tweet with links to the website of “Open Russia”.

And nine more protocols for "undesirable" links to "open Russia"

The Open Russia website has been blocked in Russia since 2017, about the same time, the editors have disconnected it - so you can’t get to the site even with VPN .

Glukhov worked as a lawyer in Open Russia from 2014 to 2016, but all the FSB posts found were laid out after his dismissal: one of them was published at the end of 2016, the rest in 2017. And only three-after April 2017, when the British Open Russia Civic Movement, which the Russian security forces considered one entity with the Russian movement “Open Russia”, was recognized as an “unwanted organization”.

“The general meaning of the prosecution is that I store these links to the“ Open Russia ”website and ensure the access of an indefinite circle of persons to them and thereby apply the information materials of an undesirable organization,” says Glukhov. - This is also a question: how can you distribute information materials if the site is blocked? Everything, through VPN , also does not work, completely empty.

On April 26, 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office recognized the British organizations of Otkrytaya Rossia and Open Russia Civic Movement, Open Russia (public network movement “Open Russia”).

The Prosecutor General’s Office assured that this decision would not affect the Russian Open Russia movement, since it was not included in the register. However, soon activists and not even related to the movement of people began to pursue throughout the country: they are drawn up by administrative protocols on participation in the activities of an “unwanted organization”.

Several people became accused under article 284.1 of the Criminal Code. For example, this year, Rostov-on-Don, the court sentenced to 4 years conditionally Anastasia Shevchenko (she was the first in Russia accused of cooperation with an “unwanted organization”), in the past-was sentenced to Jan Antonov and Maxim Vernikov .

May 27, 2021 Open Russia announced the dissolution of the movement. A few days after that, the former coordinator of the movement of Andrei Pivovarov was detained at the St. Petersburg airport of Pulkovo. He was taken to Krasnodar, where he was placed in a pre -trial detention center.

According to the lawyer, in 2017, the persecution of activists began in Russia under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses - it was for links to the Russian “Open Russia”. The security forces insist that it is recognized as an “unwanted organization”.

“There is such a practice, but it is amazing for me that nine pieces of nine, in general, nine protocols of 20.33 have never seen in Russia a single person,” the head of the “protest apology” perplexed. -I know three, four, seven each, but nine-this is something directly prohibitively. It feels like I am leading “open Russia” in Russia.

Glukhov reflects that his persecution may be connected with the then not yet passed elections to the State Duma ("formally make the regime of silence") or with the fact that the security forces "need to show the growth of [disclosure] compared to the same period last year."

-As if nobody in Chuvashia, but here Glukhov sometimes boils, it is necessary not to bakes. The second option: a hyperbolized reaction in general to the presence of someone in the republic, from the category-silence should be in the library.

Participation "by publishing links"

The first of the nine protocols Novocheboksarsky City Court examined on September 21. For the repost of the record of the Ministry of Finance to increase the price of vodka, Judge Elena Koltsova appointed a human rights activist a fine of 5,000 rubles - the minimum punishment under this article.

On the same day, another judge postponed the meeting in the second case on September 29 due to the failure to appear of the prosecutor-about the repost of the Open Russia message on the blocking of her site by Roskomnadzor. Repost Glukhov accompanied this comment: “They decided to squeeze the postcard to the end (this is very sad news. They will already be put on a nut and a sideline to be made by a rug key of repressions. It’s hard to tear the thread in Russia, you can do many more revolutions (” (”.

If the court fines Glukhov for cooperation with an “unwanted organization” (and this decision will enter into legal force), then the next time he may become an already accused software. For example, if the FSB officers discover in the depths of social networks another “unwanted” hyperlink - in addition to nine, administrative protocols have already been drawn up, so these links do not threaten criminal liability).

More recently, the criminal case required two decisions that entered into force under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. But in July, Vladimir Putin signed the bill, under this article - and now for the case of participating in an “unwanted” organization, one protocol is enough (and the case can be started immediately).

The number of "undesirable" organizations is growing all the time. In July, the Prosecutor General’s Office includedthe American Bard College in their register (he collaborated with SPbSU) and several educational funds related to Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In July, the human rights project “Team 29” was closed : Roskomnadzor blocked his site, equating “team 29” and “unwanted” Czech NPO SPOLEYYCNOST SVOBODY Informace. For the similar reason, the “MBH Media” and “Open Media” closed - they, like “Team 29”, turned off their sites. The publication "Project" also fell into the register of "undesirable".

Now, for old links to these projects and publications, you can get the same protocols as drew up on Glukhov for the website of Open Russia.

Glukhov himself says that in case of criminal prosecution, the investigation “will still have to prove a little” his participation in the “undesirable organization”-and say that he participated in it “through the publication of links”, it will be strange.

“Of course, after this I had some titanic efforts [to attach] to clean the facebook,” he admits. - To remove almost all posts, in the chronicle there were only fish, mushrooms and children there. I hope this is safe content.

He adds that the procedures for leaving the register of “undesirable organizations” do not exist, and the risk of criminal prosecution for any past interaction is maintained, even if the organization announced the liquidation.

“Attraction for links, of course, is a giant trash, but, I think that it will soon be a little more massive due to newly recognized extremist,” the lawyer believes.

Glukhov calls the situation when references to non -existent organizations are considered to be participating in their activities:

- We have a composition, and we begin to pull everything we want by the ears. 10 years ago, any judge [regarded the participation of offline, some assistance, financing, interaction. The dissemination of information about some group is not participation.

The courts over Glukhov will go for more than a week.

- I will be judged from 15 possible in the Novocheboksary City Court. Such an honorary duty was not distributed to everyone, ”he said before the start of the courts. - From September 21 to 30, I will go to court as a job.

The Frontruk lawyer believes that the protocols were specially scattered by different judges to exclude the possibility of combining them into one production - then even if guilty he would receive one fine (from 5 to 15 thousand rubles), and not nine. “The prosecutor's office considered that each post is a separate offense, and therefore transferred the matters separately. We believe that this is a wrong interpretation, ”the defender explains.

On September 22, the courts had to consider two more protocols - but both meetings, because the prosecutor simply did not come. Another meeting is scheduled for this week, four for the next. If the prosecutor walks them again, the courts over Glukhov can drag on.

Editor: Yegor Skovoroda