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2011

Misuse of Anti-Extremism Legislation in March 2011
In March 2011, all the same trends continued in the misuse and abuse of anti-extremist legislation, with at least two improper criminal, and one administrative, convictions. There were also wrongful decisions to ban a book and several films.
Tyumen Court Convicts Activist Andrei Kutuzov
On 14 March, 2011, a Magistrate’s Court in the Tyumen Central Administrative District sentenced activist Andrei Kutuzov to two years of a suspended sentence with three years’ probation. Kutuzov was accused of distributing leaflets calling for violence against the police at a rally in October 2009, which would constitute a violation of Article 280, Part 1 of the Criminal Code: public appeals for extremist activity.
Galina Kozhevnikova Dies
Today, on March 5, 2011, our colleague and dear friend Galina Kozhevnikova passed away in Moscow at the age of 36. Galina was a founder and director of the SOVA Center.

Galya was a daring and passionate person. Trained as an archive researcher, she went on to make her mark as expert in the field of nationalism and xenophobia in Russia.

Galya suffered a hard disease but went on with her work to the last.

We will soon publish Galya’s last review on xenophobia and racism in Russia in 2010.


The SOVA Center

Misuse of Anti-Extremism Legislation in February 2011

We invite you to have a look at our monthly review of state misuse of anti-extremism laws. Previously, our updates under the Racism and Xenophobia heading would have included the following, but from now on Misuse of Anti-Extremism will be posted in its own, separate update. In this area, the usual problems of abuse remained. In summary, our research shows that there were two unlawful rulings, and one contradictory ruling. In addition, four criminal cases relying on inappropriate interpretation of the law were initiated.

January 2011 – The Month in Review
Our monthly review addresses xenophobia, radical nationalism, and the state’s reactions for the month of January 2011. The contents of the report are excerpted from the results of SOVA Center’s daily monitoring activities.
December 2010: The Year in Review

Preliminary data for the year 2010 show that in 44 regions of Russia, racially motivated attacks resulted in the deaths of 37 people, with no fewer than 368 injured. In December alone, racist and neo-Nazi violence resulted in the deaths of two people, and the injury of another 68. Compare to December 2009, when three were killed and 22 wounded.