The following is our review of the primary and most representative events in the misuse of Russia’s anti-extremist legislation in December 2016 . Criminal prosecution In the second half of December, the visiting session of Privolzhsky District Military Court found Tyumen blogger Alexey Kungurov guilty of justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 Part 1 of the Criminal Code). He was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment in a penal settlement colony.

In the Arkhangelsk region, a criminal case has been initiated against a 22-year-old resident of Velsk for xenophobic comments on the page “Overheard in Velsk”. In early January 2017, a criminal case was initiated in the Arkhangelsk region against a 22-year-old resident of the Velsky district. She is suspected under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting national hatred).

In the city of Mednogorsk, Orenburg Region, an administrative case has been initiated against Evgeny Pleskachev for using a swastika on a social network. In early January 2017, an administrative case was initiated in the Orenburg region under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda and public display of Nazi symbols).

We are publishing a commentary by Ksenia Sergazina, associate professor at the Educational and Scientific Center for the Study of Religions of the Russian State University for the Humanities and an expert at the SOVA Center, dedicated to the transfer of the building of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the St. Petersburg Diocese. At the beginning of January 2017, it became known that St. Isaac's Cathedral would be transferred to the Church. According to the governor of St.

Residents of St. Petersburg and the museum community are protesting against the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Church. In January 2017, after the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko announced on January 10, 2017 that the issue of transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church had already been resolved , protests began in the city. The petition created in July 2015, “We demand to stop the transfer of St.

The Russian Orthodox Church was given the current Cathedral of St. Catherine in Tsarskoye Selo. January 12, 2017 it became known that the Property Committee relations of St. Petersburg signed an order on the transfer to gratuitous use St. Petersburg Diocese of Catherine's Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo. It's not about the historic church first half of the 19th century (it was blown up in 1939), but about the building restored in its place in 2010.

Here we publish comments from the authors of “Owl”, dedicated to the problems of the relationship between religion, society and the state, published on other sites. Comments from 2016 can be viewed here , 2015 - here , 2014 - here . For earlier ones, see the "Publications" section. The comments are listed in reverse chronological order: - Soviet faith. Broadcast with the participation of Ksenia Sergazina // Radio Liberty. 2017. December 30. Equality of religions.