Misuse of Anti-Extremism in March 2024 / SOVA

Misuse of Anti-Extremism in March 2024

Настоящий материал (информация) произведен и (или) распространен иностранным агентом Исследовательский центр «Сова» либо касается деятельности иностранного агента Исследовательский центр «Сова».

11.05.2024

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The following is our review of the primary and most representative events in the misuse of Russia's anti-extremist legislation in March 2024.

Lawmaking

On March 23, the president signed amendments to the Criminal Code (СС), Criminal-Procedural Code, and other laws introducing a mechanism for exemption from criminal liability once the person has been conscripted for military service under mobilization or a contract. The newly recruited military personnel will be released from punishment conditionally. Those who receive a state award or are dismissed from service due to age, health, or the end of mobilization will be fully released from punishment; their criminal record will be expunged. If they commit new crimes during their service, then their punishment will be assigned based on the aggregation of sentences. As for suspects or defendants, once they join the military, the investigation against them is suspended, and their criminal prosecution will be terminated once the above-listed conditions are met. The law excludes a number of Criminal Code articles from this reform, including a significant percentage of “anti-extremist” and “anti-terrorist” ones. However, being charged or convicted under many articles will not pose an obstacle, among them Article 205.6 CC (failure to report a terrorist crime), Article 282 CC (incitement of hatred or enmity), Article 280.3 CC (discrediting the use of the army), 207.3 CC (“fakes about the army”), 354.1 CC (rehabilitation of Nazism), as well as the norms on vandalism, hooliganism and violent crimes motivated by hatred.

On March 26, a bill was introduced in the State Duma to amend the federal Law “On Librarianship.” The amendments involve the introduction of a new part, Part 1.1, into the law’s Article 12, which covers the libraries’ responsibilities. Under it, the Russian Ministry of Culture will be mandated to approve the rules for “providing and posting documents” created by persons included on the foreign agents register and the Rosfinmonitoring list of extremists and terrorists. The Ministry of Culture will also determine the procedure for compiling a list of such documents. Thus, the bill introduces purely blanket norms, which must be specified in the regulations by the Ministry of Culture. The bill’s author, Yelena Yampolskaya, justified this approach by invoking numerous “wide-ranging features related to the functioning of specific libraries,” which are “more reasonable” to address in the secondary legislation. Thus, the Ministry of Culture is expected to limit the dissemination of information solely based on its author’s identity, rather than its content, and without a court decision. At the same time, it will be based on the register of foreign agents which is compiled extrajudicially by the Ministry of Justice, and on the Rosfinmonitoring list of extremists and terrorists, which does not require a court decision for inclusion.

Sanctions for Anti-Government Statements and Activities

Justifying Terrorism

On March 28, the Central District Military Court sentenced mathematician and anarchist Azat Miftakhov to four years of imprisonment under Article 205.2 Part 1 CC (public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism). He will spend the first two years of his term in prison and the rest in a maximum-security penal colony. The prosecution asked for three years of imprisonment. The fact that Miftakhov was suspected of justifying terrorism became known in August 2023, when the mathematician was still in IK-17 in the Kirov Region, serving a sentence for criminal hooliganism (he had been found guilty of involvement in the arson of the regional United Russia party office in Moscow). On September 4, charges were filed against Miftakhov, recently released from the penal colony. On the next day, the Pervomaisky District Court of Kirov ordered his detention for two months. The criminal charges were based on Miftakhov’s comments, which, according to investigators, were made while watching a television program about the capture of Bakhmut. The investigation alleged that, during the ensuing dispute, Miftakhov spoke positively about the actions of anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who blew himself up in an FSB building in Arkhangelsk in 2018. Miftakhov allegedly also stated that “FSB officers should be blown up,” and promised to “revenge” the death of a friend who died in Ukraine due to the special military operation. Meanwhile, Miftakhov himself insisted that the evidence in his case was completely fabricated. We believe that the justification of terrorism and the promotion of terrorist activities, especially in an environment with a higher-than-average propensity to violence, is certainly dangerous. However, Article 205.2 CC, like other articles on public speech, presupposes the publicity of these statements as a key element of the crime. As far as we know, the audience of the statements ascribed to Miftakhov consisted of only a few people. It is unlikely that his actions can be considered public and pose an increased public danger. Therefore, we view the charges against the mathematician under Article 205.2 CC as inappropriate.

On March 27, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg placed decorator and former journalist Nikolai Konashenok under arrest for two months as a defendant under Article 205.2 Part 2 CC on the justification of terrorism on the Internet. The case was based on two Facebook posts by Konashenok made after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack on March 22. In one post, he wondered why terrorists attacked Crocus City Hall and not the Kremlin. In another post, he wrote that Picnic was an “awful band,” but the terrorist act was “puny,” since they could have picked other targets, and “nothing like this ever happens at concerts of Western stars, even ‘during symphonic performances’.” At the court hearing regarding the choice of the preventive measure, Konashenok did not admit to his guilt. Before the hearing, he told reporters that he “regretted wording” his posts the way he did and never expected them to cause such a reaction. We doubt the need for criminal prosecution against Konashenok. In our opinion, his posts were an attempt to ironically pose the question of why the terrorists chose Crocus City Hall as the target of their attack, while also discussing musical tastes with his readers. Konashenok’s statements were cynical in content and inappropriate in form. In a situation where hundreds of people have died or been injured, and families continue to search for missing relatives, black humor is entirely inappropriate and offensive to the victims and their families. Still, it is unlikely that Konashenok actually identified with the terrorists. His remarks clearly had a figurative meaning, and in this case, the court must deal not only with the direct content of the statement but also with its form and style.

More details about the practice of applying Article 205.2 can be found here.

Discrediting the Use of the Armed Forces or Activities of Government Agencies

In March, we became aware of seven sentences handed down this month under for repeated discrediting of the use of armed forces and actions of government agencies abroad.

On March 1, the Pervomaisky District Court of Kirov sentenced 56-year-old activist Svetlana Marina to one and a half years of compulsory labor and a two-year ban on administering Internet resources. On social media, Marina expressed her outrage that a photograph of the murdered military commander Vladlen Tatarsky was installed near the Eternal Flame. After receiving a fine under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) for this, she recorded a video in which she stated that she had not changed her opinion and reiterated her previous statement. This has now led to criminal prosecution. It must be noted that Marina was specifically referring to the actions of Tatarsky himself, not the Russian army or volunteers in general. Therefore, the basis for criminal prosecution for discrediting the armed forces in this case is unclear. If Tatarsky's relatives considered Marina's harsh words as an insult or defamation, they could have pursued a civil lawsuit against the activist to defend his honor and dignity.
On March 1, the Bereznikovsky City Court of Perm Krai sentenced 52-year-old local resident Andrei Mitrofanov to a fine of 200 thousand rubles. The specific reasons for the charges are unknown; the case involved six separate episodes.
On March 1, the Uglegorsk City Court of the Sakhalin Region sentenced Dmitry Yelistratov to a year in prison and a two-year ban on administering Internet resources. The criminal charges against him were based on videos published on Odnoklassniki. One of the videos, “And So He Crashed,” featured an address by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which began with the words “Why was the war needed?” with subtitles and additional captions.
On March 4, the Baksansky District Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic issued a suspended sentence of one and a half years of imprisonment to Khusen Gukov with a ban on engaging in activities related to the patriotic education of youth. The case was based on posts on his personal Facebook page.
On March 11, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Alexander Vdovichenko to a fine of 130 thousand rubles. The specific basis for the charges is unknown. This is the second sentence issued to Vdovichenko under this article.
On March 19, the Taganrog City Court of the Rostov Region issued a suspended sentence of two and a half years to Irina Skorovarova with a five-year ban on administering pages on the Internet. She was punished for publishing a video on her personal Odnoklassniki page with a story about residents of one of the Russian villages, who kicked a Russian military man out of their village.
On March 28, the Moskovsky District Court of Kaliningrad sentenced journalist and civil activist Mikhail Feldman to two years in a minimum-security penal colony with a two-year ban on website administration. The case was based on materials shared or posted by Feldman on VKontakte; previously he had faced charges under Article 20.3.3 Part 1 CAO for attending an anti-war rally.

In March we found out that on February 15, in Togliatti, the criminal case of local AvtoVAZ worker Dmitry Vaschenko was discontinued due to the lack of evidence of a crime. Earlier, in August 2022, he faced charges twice under Article 20.3.3 Part 1 CAO for videos posted on his VKontakte page. A criminal case against Vaschenko was opened in February 2023; we do not know the exact charges against him. By January 2024, the investigation of the case was completed, but the prosecutor did not approve the indictment and returned the case to the investigator.

On March 5, the Voronezh Regional Court overturned the verdict under Article 280.3 Part 1 CC, issued by the Liskinsky District Court to Ruslan Bolgov on November 8, 2023, and sent his case for a new trial. The district court sentenced Bolgov to 10 months of compulsory labor for posting on his social network page in 2023 three separate texts, in which he called for opposing the special operation in Ukraine.

In March, we learned about eight new criminal cases under this article.

It turned out that on November 28, 2023, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Barnaul arrested in absentia the former chairman of the republican branch of the Yabloko party, Alexander Goncharenko, who left Russia in November 2022. The reasons for his criminal charges are unknown.
On March 12, a criminal case was opened in Moscow against blogger and bodybuilder Alexander Shpak for his posts on Telegram. Before that, Shpak was arrested in absentia under paragraph “d” of Article 207.3 Part 2 CC (dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of Russian armed forces motivated by political hatred). He had also repeatedly faced administrative responsibility.
On March 26, we were informed of a criminal case against a resident of Uglich in the Yaroslavl Region, who was put under travel restrictions. The case was based on posts shared on Odnoklassniki: one with the telephone number of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense used for surrender and the other one with an image expressing gratitude to the Ukrainian air defense.
On March 28, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Nikita Yuferev, a municipal deputy from St. Petersburg, who left Russia. The case was based on three posts made on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter). These posts discussed the United Nations data on the number of deaths in Ukraine, an article in the German periodical Die Zeit about Yuferev’s Smolninskoye municipality, and the reasons he would not pay a fine under the administrative article about discrediting the army.
On March 15, the Novotroitsk City Court of the Orenburg Region received materials from a criminal case against local resident Alexei Shachnev. The specific basis for the criminal charges is unknown.
On March 18, the Onega City Court of the Arkhangelsk Region received materials from the case against retiree Gennady Deryagin from Onega, the former professor of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Northern State Medical University. The case was transferred to another court based on jurisdiction. The specific reasons for the criminal prosecution against the retiree are unknown. On his VKontakte page, Deryagin, among his other posts, made statements criticizing Vladimir Putin and the special military operation in Ukraine.
On March 27, it became known that a criminal case was opened against Tomsk resident Sergei Zheleznyakov for posting the song "We Don't Need War" by the band Nogu Svelo! on VKontakte and for sharing a video that showed Zheleznyakov addressing passers-by while holding a sign that read "Hugs if you are against war."
On March 28, it was reported that a criminal case had been opened against Alexander Malafeevsky, a resident of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk Region. The criminal charges were based on VKontakte posts, but their exact content is unknown.
It was reported on March 31, that a case had been opened in the Yamalo-Nenets Administrative District against Igor Yakunichev, a resident of the village of Pangody. He currently faces a ban on certain actions. The criminal prosecution is related to posting a video with allegations that Russian military personnel shot a resident of the Ukrainian village of Berezovka. In 2023, criminal cases were opened against Yakunichev – under Article 207.3 Part 1 CC (disseminating fakes about the army) for his VKontakte posts about events in Bucha and under Article 205.2 Part 2 CC for his posts about the Freedom of Russia Legion, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia.

“Fakes about the Army” Motivated by Hatred

We consider sanctions under paragraph “e” of Article 207.3 Part 2 CC (dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Russian army on the grounds of political hatred) inappropriate unless the imputed statements contain calls for violence.

In March, courts completed consideration of five cases involving such charges.

On March 6, the Korolyov City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced RusNews journalist Roman Ivanov to seven years in a minimum-security penal colony for several posts on social networks that described the consequences of a special operation in Ukraine, and, in particular, the events in Bucha.
On March 19, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Alexander Byvshev, a poet from Kromy of the Oryol Region, to seven years of imprisonment under paragraph “e” of Article 207.3 Part 2 CC and Article 205.2 Part 2 CC. According to available information, the charge under Article 207.3 CC was associated with the VKontakte post about the death of civilians in Bucha and Mariupol. The investigators also objected to the photograph of a destroyed village near Kyiv, the birthplace of Byvshev’s aunt. Previously, he had repeatedly faced both administrative and criminal charges, which we believe were inappropriate.
On March 20, the Vyborg District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced documentary filmmaker Vsevolod Korolyov to three years in a minimum-security penal colony and a four-year ban on administering Internet resources for his VKontakte posts made in the spring of 2022. The posts talked about the actions of the Russian armed forces in Bucha and Borodyanka and the shelling of Donetsk.
On March 25, Anastasia Ageeva, who left Russia, was sentenced in absentia by the Lyublinsky District Court of Moscow to eight years in a minimum-security penal colony for two posts made on social media. This sentence also includes a four-year ban on administering websites.
On March 27, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow issued a sentence in absentia to Lyudmila (Lyusya) Shtein, a former Basmanny District municipal deputy and a Pussy Riot participant. The court sentenced her to six years and 15 days of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony with loss of the right to administer Internet sites for three and a half years. When imposing the sentence, the court partially added her unserved punishment from the previous sentence. The case was based on Shtein’s statements on X (Twitter) commenting on a video that showed Ukrainian soldiers allegedly shooting at the legs of Russian prisoners of war.

Vandalism Motivated by Hatred

On March 1, the 1st Eastern District Military Court sentenced Nikolai Titarenko, a resident of the Amur Region, to eight years of imprisonment, with the first three years to be served in prison, and the remaining term in a maximum-security penal colony followed by restriction of freedom for a year. Titarenko was found guilty under four articles of the Criminal Code. We consider the charges brought against him under Article 214 Part 2 CC (vandalism motivated by political hatred) inappropriate. They were based on the fact that he painted a certain statement on the Moscow-Vladivostok stela, located on the Amur highway. According to the court, the symbols used in the graffiti discredited the policy pursued by the Russian Federation.

Inciting Hatred towards the Authorities and Their Supporters

In March, we learned about six people who were inappropriately punished under Article 20.3.1 CAO (incitement to hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) for critical statements, not involving calls for violence, against representatives of government bodies, law enforcement agencies, military personnel, as well as citizens of Russia in general. One of them faced sanctions in February. The court sentenced four defendants to fines, one to administrative arrest, and one more to community service.

These six offenders include Yekaterina Fatyanova, an activist from Krasnoyarsk, fined 10 thousand rubles for her 2023 publications in the Raboche-krest'yanskiy serp i molot [Workers and Peasants Hammer and Sickle] newspaper. Fatyanova is an editor of the newspaper. Law enforcement officers, and after them the Leninsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk found the material about the May Day celebration to contain “signs of inciting hatred and hostility towards groups of persons identified on the basis of belonging to social groups (representatives of the authorities, representatives of law enforcement agencies, and persons carrying out profit-making activities – “capitalists”).” The court also fined Fatyanova under Article 20.3.2 Part 2 CAO (public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, committed on the Internet), apparently for the same publications. Experts found in them “signs of incitement to actions aimed at forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order.” However, Article 20.3.2 CAO punishes calls for violation of territorial integrity, and not for changing the foundations of the constitutional system. In addition, in our opinion, general calls for class struggle or for the restoration of the Soviet Union, not associated with explicit calls for violence, pose no significant public danger. Fatyanova also faces charges under Article 280.3 Part 1 CC for another article in her newspaper.

In March, we also became aware of new cases under Article 20.1 Part 3 of CAO opened for “disrespect for authority and society.” Nine people were fined in amounts ranging from 15 to 70 thousand rubles for posts with harsh criticism of the president, the authorities in general, the military, and even elections.

Bans against Organizations

On March 19, the prosecutor's office in the Omsk Region filed a request in court to recognize the Omsk Civic Association (Omskoye grazhdanskoye ob’yedineniye) as an extremist organization and to ban its activities in Russia. The Omsk Civic Association characterizes itself as “an association of free citizens from Omsk,” and its Telegram channel publishes news, including those on corruption in the Omsk Region and the special military operation in Ukraine, as well as human rights instructions, for example, how to request the alternative civilian service. One of the association’s founders, Nikolai Rodkin, had a criminal case opened against him in August last year under Article 282 Part 1 CC for “humiliating the dignity of a group of persons based on their membership in the Supreme Court.” Previously, he was wrongfully sanctioned under Article 20.3.1 CAO for harsh statements against police officers.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the goals of the Omsk Civic Association include “changing the foundations of the constitutional system in the Russian Federation” and “changing the regime in the country by force,” and the association’s activities are based on “extremist ideology, which consists in inciting hatred and hostility towards representatives of government institutions.” The lawsuit states that the association uses various technologies to achieve its goals including “organizing and holding mass public events without a permit obtained according to the established procedure.” Since the association “showed high efficiency in organizing mass public events,” “it is within the bounds of possibility” that Omsk Civic Association supporters could be used by “anti-Russian forces” to change the country’s regime. In addition, the document says that the Omsk Civic Association “continues the activities of oppositionist A.A. Navalny.” <...> under the guise of exposing corruption and bringing public attention to problematic situations in the Omsk Region.” De facto, the movement faced charges for its anti-corruption investigations and political criticism. We consider the prosecutor's office's demand to ban Omsk Civic Association inappropriate. We have no data that would confirm the intentions of Omsk Civic Association supporters to overthrow the government in Russia by violent means or their involvement in the systematic dissemination of calls for violence in general. Organizing peaceful actions, even if not coordinated with the authorities, in and of itself, cannot be interpreted as an attempt to forcibly change the regime and does not fall under the definition of extremist activity. The charges of “continuing the activities of the oppositionist Navalny” against the Omsk Civic Association on the basis of its corruption investigations in the Omsk Region and discussions of regional problems appear unfounded. Moreover, Alexei Navalny's opposition activity was also peaceful and not aimed at seizing power by force.

Organized Anti-Government Activities

It was reported in March that on February 14, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Irkutsk issued a three-year suspended sentence to local resident Alexei Kamkin. He was found guilty under Article 282.3 Part 1 CC (financing extremist activities) for his donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

On March 14, the Khoroshyovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced 22-year-old Higher School of Economics student Alina Olekhnovich and 23-year-old university graduate Ivan Trofimov to three and a half years of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 282.1 Part 2 CC (participating in an extremist community). The criminal case against students was first reported in July 2023. They were detained, placed under house arrest, and then sent to a pre-trial detention center. The court found that Trofimov and Olekhnovich were involved in the “underground headquarters” of Alexei Navalny, created on the basis of the Navalny Headquarters network liquidated in 2021.

RusNews journalist and activist Olga Komleva was detained in Ufa on March 27. The next day, the Kirovsky District Court decided on her arrest as a preventive measure. She was charged with participating in the activities of an extremist community under Article 282.1 Part 2 CC for her involvement in Alexei Navalny’s structures.

SotaVision journalist Antonina Favorskaya (Kravtsova) found herself in pre-trial detention on the same charges. According to the investigation, Favorskaya collected and produced materials, including videos, for publication on FBK resources. Per available information, the defendant faces charges specifically related to her journalistic work – she visited trials based on Navalny’s claims against the penal colonies where the politician was serving his sentence, and recorded his speeches during the court sessions, including those held shortly before he died in 2024. The fact that a criminal case had been opened against the journalist was reported on March 27 after she was detained following her release from a special detention center. She had served 10 days of administrative arrest under the charge of disobeying the police (Article 19.3 CAO). Later, the homes of Favorskaya and two other journalists, Anastasia Musatova and Alexandra Astakhova, were searched. Astakhova and Musatova received the status of witnesses in Favorskaya’s case.

Displaying Banned Symbols

In March, we noted 42 cases of unlawful prosecution for displaying prohibited symbols under Article 20.3 Part 1 CAO.

Many cases were associated with the symbols of structures created by Alexei Navalny’s supporters. Similarly to the previous month, the courts viewed as such symbols not only logos or references to projects of banned organizations but also references to Navalny himself, his portraits, or simply oppositional slogans. We counted 12 such decisions (one of them was made back in February). Six people were subject to administrative arrest (one of them, activist Marina-Victoria Nagornykh from Murmansk, was arrested three times), and four were fined.

In Chita, activist Irina Tribunskaya was fined for a video posted on YouTube three years ago with symbols of the “I/WE Sergei Furgal” movement, which was recognized as an extremist organization on February 22, 2024. We are inclined to consider the ban on this movement inappropriate, therefore we view charges for demonstrating its symbols as similarly inappropriate.

One more person was fined for posting the symbols of E.V. Limonov’s Other Russia on VKontakte.

Five people were punished for displaying the white-blue-white flag: four of them faced fines and one was sentenced to an administrative arrest.

We know of eleven court decisions related to the dissemination of the slogan “Glory to Ukraine.” Five people were sentenced to fines and five others to arrests (one of them twice).

Two people faced fines for posting images of a Ukrainian trident (tryzub) on social media.

In addition, the Kievsky District Court of Simferopol fined three local residents for posting the song “Chervona Kalyna” on social media. Once again, the court regarded it as a symbol of banned Ukrainian nationalist organizations.

A resident of Dagestan was fined by a court for having a pit bull sticker on his car.

In Tatarstan, one person was fined for posting a kolovrat image on their social network page, while another received a fine for posting ancient Turkic runes, which the court interpreted as neo-Nazi symbols.

Additionally, two individuals were penalized for displaying a swastika without any intention of promoting Nazism. One person drew it over the letter “Z” on a leaflet containing a poem about participants in the special military operation, which was displayed in the lobby of an apartment building. The other individual posted an image of a police car with a swastika on its door on their VKontakte page.

Two other individuals were fined for displaying symbols of the banned “international LGBT social movement.”

Protecting Historical Memory and “Traditional Values”

“Rehabilitating Nazism”

On March 26, the Novosibirsk Regional Court issued a one-year suspended sentence to Emil Valeeva under Article 354.1 Part 4 CC (distribution on the Internet of information about the days of Russia’s military glory expressing obvious disrespect for society). The information about the case against Valeeva first became public in October 2023. The version of the investigation, upheld by the court, stated that on May 9, 2022, the defendant, acting as the administrator of the VKontakte group “Stewed Fans with Meat” (Tushenyye ventilyatory s myasom), posted the information about the days of military glory of Russia related to the defense of the Fatherland that expressed clear disrespect for society. According to the expert opinion in the case, the post contained “statements that indicate the denial, belittlement, and humiliation of the significance of the victory in the Great Patriotic War for the public life of Russia.” The post is known to have contained the phrase “Putin’s victory frenzy.”

In March, we learned about four cases initiated under Article 354.1 CC, in our opinion, without proper grounds.

On March 7, it became known that a criminal case had been opened in Nevinnomyssk of Stavropol Krai, under Article 354.1 Part 4 CC (desecration of symbols of Russian military glory committed by a group of persons) against three young men. According to the investigation, Islam T. and Alikhan M. climbed onto the pedestal at the “Eternal Glory” obelisk reaching the Eternal Flame with the soles of their shoes and thereby desecrating it. One young man was detained and taken into custody after being charged. Two residents of neighboring republics were placed on the wanted list.
On March 26, a 46-year-old local resident became a suspect under Article 354.1 Part 4 CC in Pushkin (St. Petersburg). A criminal case was initiated based on one text and two graphic materials posted on VKontakte. Reportedly, these posts included Nazi symbols, desecrated the St. George Ribbon as the symbol of military glory, and also contained certain information about the days of military glory.
On March 26, it was reported that a criminal case had been opened in Tambov under Article 354.1 Part 4 CC (insult to the memory of defenders of the Fatherland committed on the Internet) against activist Andrei Polyakov. The charges were based on a comment left by Polyakov on VKontakte under a post with news about the opening of a memorial plaque for the “special military operation hero” in Tambov. The activist suggested using “the good old word: scum” (SVOloch') when referring to such people. Polyakov currently resides abroad. Previously, he had faced both administrative and criminal liability, in our opinion, inappropriately. In 2022, he was fined under Article 354.1 Part 1 CC for his publications about the actions of the Soviet leadership during the Second World War, and, in 2023, a case was opened against him under Article 282.4 Part 1 CC (repeated public display of symbols of prohibited organizations) for using an avatar with a white-blue-white flag.
On March 30, it became known that local resident Ildar Martynov was taken into custody in Togliatti and charged under Article 205 Part 2, Article 212 Part 3 (calls for mass riots), paragraph “c” of Article 354.1 Part 2 (dissemination of knowingly false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War, committed on the Internet; two episodes), and Article 354.1 Part 4 CC. The charges under Articles 205.2 and 212 CC were based on a video, posted on VKontakte, with a call to join the “armed people’s struggle” against Putin. We could not identify the video. Martynov faces charges under Article 354.1 CC for three posts published in 2020 and 2023. According to investigators, in these posts, the Togliatti resident “devalued” the importance of Victory Day and rejected the “decisive role” of the USSR in the victory over Nazi Germany.

On March 20, the Krasnodar Regional Court, on appeal from the prosecutor, overturned the sentence of local resident Vladimir Yarotsky under Article 354.1 Part 4 CC. This decision was made due to a jurisdiction violation – cases under this article are within the jurisdiction of the regional court, but Yarotsky was sentenced by the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar in December 2023. At the time, he was sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony for posting on his VKontakte page “an image depicting a male genital organ with a symbol of Russia’s military glory, the St. George’s Ribbon, tied to it.” The case will now be reviewed again.

“Insulting the Feelings of Believers”

It was reported on March 12, that a criminal case had been initiated under Article 148 Part 1 CC (public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed to insult the religious feelings of believers) against Ivan Fisin, a 35-year-old resident of the village of Ruchyi in Razdolnensky District of Crimea. According to the investigation, Fisin posted on VKontakte publicly accessible “images and comments offensive to Orthodox believers.” We do not know the content of the images and publications posted by Fisin, but we believe that if certain statements incite hatred towards followers of any religion, such actions can be qualified under Article 20.3.1 CAO. Otherwise, law enforcement should not have opened the case in the first place.

It is also worth noting that on March 19, the Furmanovsky City Court of the Ivanovo Region fined Pavel Smirnov, a deputy of the regional Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 15 thousand rubles under Article 20.3.1 CAO for inciting hatred, finding him guilty of posting the video “Down with religion!” on VKontakte. We have reviewed the video that we assume to be the one posted on Smirnov’s page. It contains harsh assessments of Christianity from an atheistic perspective and encourages believers of all religions to abandon their religious views. However, we did not find any signs of inciting hatred towards adherents of Christianity in this video, nor did we find any "humiliating offensive characterizations" of them, as mentioned in the court decision. In our opinion, there are no legal grounds to restrict peaceful atheistic propaganda.

Persecution against Religious Organizations and Believers

Jehovah's Witnesses

In March, Jehovah's Witnesses continued to face prosecution on charges of involvement in local religious organizations that were deemed extremist and banned.

We are aware of eight sentences issued in March against 30 people.

On March 1, the Sovetsky District Court of Oryol sentenced Tatyana Piskareva to two and a half years of compulsory labor and six months of restriction of freedom under Article 282 Part 2 CC (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).
On March 4, the Tsentralny District Court of Togliatti issued a two-year suspended sentence to Yelena Kozhevnikova under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC.
On March 5, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Irkutsk announced the verdict in the case of nine believers: Yaroslav Kalin, Sergei Kosteev, Nikolai Martynov, Mikhail Moish, Alexei Solnechny and Andrei Tolmachyov were sentenced to seven years in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC (organizing the activities of an extremist organization) and Article 282.3 Part 1 CC. Igor Popov and Denis Sarazhakov were sentenced to six years and four months in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC. In addition to the main punishment, all of them were banned from participating in the organizational activities of public and religious associations for five years and also sentenced to a year and two months of restriction of freedom after their release from the colony. Sergei Vasiliev was sentenced to three years in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC with a three-year ban on participation in the organizational activities of public and religious associations and restriction of freedom for six months.
On March 6, the Magadan City Court announced the verdict in the case of fourteen Jehovah's Witnesses: Sergei Yerkin, Konstantin Petrov and Ivan Puida received seven-year suspended sentences under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC and Article 282.3 Part 1 CC; Evgeny Zyablov received a five-year suspended sentence under Article 282.3 Part 1 and Article 282.2 Part 2 CC; Sergei Agadzhanov, Viktor Revyakin, Mikhail Solntsev, Oksana Solntseva, Irina Khvostova, Lyubov Asatryan, Galina Dergacheva, Inna Kardakova, and Galina Pechko received three-year suspended sentences under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC. One defendant – probably Anastasia Chibisova – was issued a two-year suspended sentence under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC. All defendants were also sentenced to restriction of freedom for various periods of up to a year and were deprived of the right to engage in activities related to the work of public religious organizations and associations for terms ranging from two to seven years.
On March 7, the Maikop City Court of the Republic of Adygea sentenced Inver Siyukhov to six years of imprisonment under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC with a restriction of freedom for a year and a four-year ban on educational activities and activities related to the leadership of religious organizations and participation in them.
On March 15, the Novocheboksarsk City Court of the Chuvash Republic issued a five-year suspended sentence to 85-year-old Yuri Yuskov with restriction of freedom for a year and four months under Part 1.1 (involvement of others in the activities of an extremist organization) and Part 2 of Article 282.2 CC.
On March 22, the Tsentralny District Court of Togliatti issued a two-year suspended sentence to Yelena Yurenkova under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC.
On March 25, the Votkinsky District Court of the Udmurt Republic sentenced Sergei Gobozev and Mikhail Potapov to fines of 450 and 400 thousand rubles, respectively, under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC.

Three earlier decisions were changed.

On March 12, the Kemerovo Regional Court changed the verdict under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC for Pavel Brilkov from Prokopyevsk. Instead of two years and ten months of compulsory labor, the believer now faces two years of imprisonment.
On March 22, the Supreme Court of Crimea overturned the sentence of four Jehovah's Witnesses previously issued by the Yalta City Court. The case was sent for a new trial to the court of first instance in a different composition. Taras Kuzio, Pyotr Zhiltsov, and Sergei Lyulin were released from pre-trial detention under a ban on certain actions. Daria Kuzio remains under travel restrictions. In February 2023, the Yalta City Court sentenced Taras Kuzio to six and a half years of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC; Sergei Lyulin and Pyotr Zhiltsov were sentenced to six years of imprisonment under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC and Article 282.3 Part 1 CC; Daria Kuzio faced a three-year suspended sentence under Article 282.3 Part 1 CC.
On March 28, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court overturned the decision of the Zelenogorsk City Court to return to the prosecutor the case of Alexander Kabanov, charged under Article 282.2 Part 2 CC. The court of first instance will consider the case again. In August 2022, the Zelenogorsk City Court issued a two-year suspended sentence to Kabanov with a six-month restriction of freedom. Later, the regional court returned the case to the court of first instance because it considered the believer’s guilt unproven due to significant procedural violations. The city court tried to return the case to the prosecutor's office, but the regional court did not agree.

In March, we became aware of five new criminal cases against six believers.

In early March, Igor Muravyov from the Sakhalin region was charged under Parts 1.1 and 2 of Article 282.2. On April 3, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg took him into custody.
On March 4, in Omsk, the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched as part of a criminal case initiated on February 29 under Article 282.2 Part 1. Leonid Pyzhov and Sergei Rygaev were detained and then sent to a pre-trial detention center the next day.
On March 19, it became known that two criminal cases were opened against a 28-year-old resident of the Chelyabinsk Region (his name has not been reported) under Article 282.2 Part 2 and Article 282.3 Part 1.
A criminal case under Article 282.2 Parts 1.1 and 2 was opened against Vladimir Fomin from Cherkessk who has a Group II disability. He was placed in pre-trial detention.
On March 26, a criminal case was opened in Petrozavodsk under Article 282.2 Part 1 against Alexei Timofeev. On April 3, the court placed him in pre-trial detention.

We also note that on March 11, the Belebeevsky City Court of Bashkortostan fined turner Vladimir Trofimovich one thousand rubles under Article 20.29 CAO (mass distribution of extremist materials). Officers of the Bashkortostan FSB Directorate found a prohibited brochure of Jehovah's Witnesses, “The Secret of Family Happiness” in Trofimovich's wardrobe locker at the plant that employed him. Trofimovich’s co-workers testified in court that he had suggested they read this book.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

On March 5, the Central District Military Court sentenced two residents of Chelyabinsk, Vadim Nasyrov and Marat Bazarbaev, in the case of involvement in the radical Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. Nasyrov was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment under Article 205.5 Part 1 CC (organizing the activities of a terrorist organization) and Article 205.1 Part 1.1 CC (recruiting for participation in the activities of a terrorist organization): he will spend the first six years of his term in prison and the rest in a maximum-security penal colony. Bazarbaev was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment under Article 205.1 Part 1.1 CC and Article 205.5 Part 2 CC (participating in the activities of a terrorist organization); he will spend the first five and a half years of the term in prison and the rest in a maximum-security penal colony. Bazarbaev and Nasyrov were detained in the summer of 2021. Earlier, in 2013, both were convicted of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir and were released in 2018.

On March 5-6, the Kievsky District Court of Simferopol ruled to place in pre-trial detention the following individuals: Bakhchisarai residents Memet Lyumanov, Aziz Azizov, Rustem Osmanov and Mustafa Abduramanov and residents of Dzhankoysky District Enver Khalilayev, Nariman Ametov, Ali Mamutov, Vakhid Mustafayev (the imam of the mosque in the village of Lobanovo) and activist Arsen Kashka. Former imam Remzi Kurtnezirov, who has a Group II disability, was placed under house arrest. All of them were detained on the morning of March 5 in a case initiated under Article 205.5 CC. The defendants in the case include activists and journalists who previously spoke out in support of other Crimeans convicted in terrorist organization cases for their alleged involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Allya-Ayat

It was reported on March 27 that six followers of the Allya-Ayat teaching were detained in Rostov-on-Don. The 65-year-old leader of the local association was charged under Article 282.2 Part 1 CC. The investigation believes that he created a cell of a religious association in Rostov-on-Don in 2023. The rest of the detainees were charged under Part 2 of the same article. Law enforcement agencies stated that the criminal activities of the extremist structure were coordinated from abroad, with financial flows also directed there. Allegedly, the detainees also involved other local residents in their activities.