Icons of Vladimir Putin are on sale at Pulkovo Airport in the Leningrad Region. At the end of January 2020, it became known that that at the Pulkovo airport in the Leningrad region appeared on sale images of Vladimir Putin stylized as icons. Advocate Arkady Chaplygin posted this image on his Twitter blog with this commentary: “What, they have already allowed canonize the living?

The following is our review of the primary and most representativeevents in misuse of Russia's anti-extremist legislation in January 2020. Lawmaking In late January, theMinistry of Justice made a draft of the new Code of Administrative Offenses publiclyavailable. Among other changes, the new Code proposes to reduce sanctions forlegal entities under an article that covers the production of extremistmaterials (to 50-100 thousand rubles with confiscation of materials andequipment).

Library employee fined under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. On February 14, 2020, it became known that in the Orenburg Region, the Novosergievsky District Court under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (dissemination of extremist materials) fined an employee of one of the rural libraries of the Novosergievsky district for two thousand rubles (as it became known later, it was Reseda Gaysina from the Kutushevsky rural branch of the library).

The court found Mikhail and Elena Popov guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. On February 14, 2020, in the Kamchatka Territory, the Vilyuchinsky City Court found spouses Mikhail and Elena Popov, followers of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, guilty under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) and fined Mikhail 350 thousand rubles, and Elena - 300 thousand.

A 16-year-old student is charged with attempted murder. On February 13, 2020, it became known that in St. Petersburg, the investigation charged 16-year-old schoolboy Miroslav under Part 1 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code (attempted murder). The young man is accused of assaulting a 25-year-old visitor from Uzbekistan. On February 14, 2020, he gave an undertaking not to leave.

Police officers torture Jehovah's Witnesses in Chita. On February 14, 2020, it became known that people were being tortured in Chita Jehovah's Witnesses. According to believers, on February 10, during searches and detentions, law enforcement officers structures in the official vehicle were beaten, strangled and electrocuted Vadim Kutsenko, tying his hands with handcuffs and forcibly closing his eyes.