In August 2017, no fewer than 19 people were victims of attacks motivated by racism and neo-Nazism in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg and the Belgorod and Oryol regions.
The majority of victims were participants in an LGBT Pride parade that took place on August 12, 2017 in St. Petersburg.
In total since the start of the year, four people have died and 37 have been wounded during attacks motivated by racism and far-right ideology in 13 Russian regions.
In August, we learned only of one act of vandalism. In Apatity, Murmansk region, unidentified vandals desecrated a Buddhist stupa. In total since the start of the year, we registered no fewer than 29 acts of vandalism motivated by xenophobia in 20 Russian regions.
On August 26, on Moscow’s Sakharov Square, nationalists attended a demonstration “For a Free Internet”, which was organized by the People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS), Protest Moscow, the Civil Initiative Party, the Pirate Party, the Libertarian Party, the Democratic Choice Party and the civil organization, RosKomSvoboda. According to the observations of SOVA Center, the nationalists numbered no more than 50 people from the Nationalists’ Party, the Nation and Freedom Committee (KNS), Black Bloc, the Russian United National Alliance (RONA), the Honor and Freedom Movement, the New Opposition, and the National Revolutionary Avant-Garde (NRA). Participants chanted “Abolish 282!”, “Abolish 280!”, “Freedom for Alexander Belov!” and “Freedom for Dmitry Dyomushkin!”. From the podium, the secretary of the Nationalists’ Party, Andrei Petrovsky, spoke about the oppression of indigenous population and the case of Dyomushkin. Nationalists from the Black Bloc movement attempted to attack two LGBT activists, who were walking by at the time, and wrested a flag away from the young women. Other protesters came to the girls’ aid, but in the end the girls were detained by the police.
In August, two convictions were passed on charges of ideologically motivated violence. On August 25, a court in Khabarovsk convicted two girls and their accomplice. The Khabarovsk serial killers of animals were convicted not only for animal cruelty but also for attacks against members of the LGBT community and against the homeless. On August 28, 2017, the Bryansk regional court issued a guilty verdict against two supporters of the Straight Age movement who killed the vocalist of the rock group 46-year-old Alexander Chizhikov, due to his drunken state and unkept appearance.
In total, no fewer than nine such convictions were made against 23 people in eight Russian regions since the start of the year.
In August 2017, one conviction was made for xenophobic vandalism. In the Trans-Baikal Territory, a minor was convicted because, in January 2017, using a can of paint, the convicted scrawled various slogans and images onto several buildings in the city. In total for the year to date, we have learned about three convictions against five people in three regions for xenophobic vandalism.
In August 2017, no fewer than 12 convictions were passed against 13 people in nine regions for xenophobic statements.
In total for the year to date, 130 convictions for racist statements were made against 146 people in 57 regions.
Over the course of the previous month the Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated five times, points 4187-4202 were added. Neo-Nazi materials from the internet, a book by Tatar nationalist Aidar Khalim, and videos by Islamic militants were added to the list.
In August, a new point was added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations. The Jehovah's Witnesses' Administrative Center in Russia together with 395 local Jehovah's Witnesses organizations, as its structural subdivisions, was added to the list after a decision made by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on April 20. Therefore, the list includes 62 items at present (not including the 27 organizations that have been recognized as terrorist organizations), whose activity has been banned by court proceedings and its continuation is punishable by Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.
