In the second half of October, the State Duma adopted a final revision for a number of the Criminal Code articles related to espionage and treason. In the new version the definition of treason no longer included the formula "acts directed against the constitutional order and sovereignty," while retaining  "assistance in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation" – a vague phrase open to multiple interpretations. Upon approving the bill at the end of the month, the Federation Council has decided to make an appeal to the Supreme Court to deliberate on the law enforcement provisions of the approved document. According to the Federation Council members this step will serve to "remove all the stress that had arisen in the society due to the adoption of this law."

In early October, it was reported that Roskomnadzor was working on recommendations on restricting access by minors to a public WiFi networks, and using the law on strengthening controls over the Internet to justify these steps. It was assumed that a connection to a public WiFi network can be managed in the same way as a purchase of alcohol and tobacco – when the customer’s age is in doubt, he is asked to show the passport. Obviously, such rules would constitute a substantial violation of the user’s rights and cause a lot of technical difficulties. However, the very next day, apparently due to intensive media coverage, the Telecommunications Ministry declared that it does not support the Roskomnadzor’s initiative.

A blocking mechanism for websites with information, access to which, by law, must be closed to minors, came into effect on November 1. In the second half of October, Roskomnadzor approved a temporary protocol for maintaining the register of blocked sites. It was decided that, until a permanent registry operator is appointed, the registry will be maintained by Roskomnadzor. From our point of view, this legal mechanism has not been fully developed and still raises many questions. This law has been criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which, in early October, adopted a resolution on the legal situation in Russia, based on the results of its monitoring of Russia's compliance with its obligations to the Council.

The Assembly also advised Russia to pay attention to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which expressed its opinion regarding the Federal Law on Combating Extremist Activity and formulated proposals for its reform. PACE requested that anti-extremist legislation no longer be applied against religious communities, including Jehovah's Witnesses. The Assembly also demanded an unconditional release of the band members Pussy Riot, whose sentence was deemed excessively harsh.

Criminal Prosecution

In October, the progress in several inappropriate criminal cases did not favor the prosecution.

In the second half of the month the Transbaikal Regional Court overturned the conviction by the Chita District Court against Andrei and Lucia Raitin under Article 282 Part 1 of the Criminal Code (incitement to religious hatred) imposed for the distribution of the Jehovah's Witnesses materials, which had been banned as extremist. The Regional Court has closed a criminal case and recognized the Raitins’ right to exoneration. This was the third criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses that ended in acquittal.

In mid-October, the Primorye Regional Court returned the case of Igor Popov and Alexander Kurov - the activists of Drugaya Rossiya (the Other Russia) in Vladivostok - to the trial court due to procedural violations.

At the same time, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court returned the case of the Antifa-RASH group to the Prosecutor's Office with request to correct violations due to which the case could not be considered on its merits. The Regional Court ruled that the indictment contained no indications of specific actions by the defendants, which could demonstrate their involvement in an extremist community. We would like to remind, that five activists of the militant antifascist movement in Nizhny Novgorod are accused of creating an extremist group and committing violent crimes motivated by hostility to the "representatives of the social groups of skinheads and football fans."

In two other cases, the courts imposed suspended sentences.

The most well-known court decision of this kind was replacing prison term with a suspended sentence for one of the Pussy Riot members. On October 10 the Moscow City Court, considering the appeal of the convicted members of the group, replaced the verdict to Ekaterina Samutsevich with a suspended sentence, concluding that she simply had no opportunity to fully take part in the action.

In early October, the Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod delivered a sentence in the case of two teenagers accused of setting fire to the building that housed the office of Vadim Zhuk, the Regional Legislative Assembly member from the United Russia party. They received suspended sentences of 2.5 and 2 years. We consider the use of concepts such as “hooliganism motivated by hatred of the social group ‘members of the United Russia party’” in the criminal charges to be inappropriate. In our view, members of a political party do not constitute a social group in need of protection provided by anti-extremist legislation.

New questionable cases were started in October against Rustem Safin, the imam of Al-Ikhlas mosque in Kazan, for alleged membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, and against Ivan Moiseev, the director of the Pomor Institute of indigenous people and Minorities of Northern Arctic Federal University, and the president of the Pomor Association of Arkhangelsk Region for allegedly writing an online comment insulting ethnic Russians.

Administrative prosecution

We know of three wrongful convictions in October under the Administrative Code Article 20.29 (production and distribution of extremist materials). Two of them were issued for distribution of banned Muslim literature, particularly books by Said Nursi, the third highly controversial one was delivered in the case of one of the Other Russia activists in the Rostov-on-Don region.

Materials Banned for Extremism

In early October, the Central District Court of Tyumen declared the leaflets “To Everyone Who Works in the Armed and Security Forces" and "Russia in the Hands of Traitors" to be extremist; the leaflets were using harsh words against the authorities, law enforcement agencies and the Russian Orthodox Church.

At the same time, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk recognized as extremist the video "The History and Causes of Hizb ut-Tahrir" produced by recording studio "HT Media Chelyabinsk" and published via social networks. We do not agree with the verdict that the video contains incitement to violence, and consider the ban to be unjustified.

On the other hand, in early October, the Vologda City Court failed to recognize as extremist the mock leaflet produced by the website of Alexei Navalny, ostensibly on behalf of the United Russia party. According to the leaflet, the support for presidential candidate Vladimir Putin came primarily from the regions with lower rates for public utilities, particularly from the North Caucasus. According to the Prosecutor's Office the leaflet contained, among other things, an "incitement to hatred and ethnic strife," but the prosecution was unable to prove it in court.

In addition, the Soviet District Court of Orel refused to recognize popular city website orlec.ru as extremist. The Court only partially granted the Prosecutor’s request, recognizing materials, previously posted on the site, as extremist. These materials became the subject of the lawsuit, despite the fact that they were immediately removed by moderators. Orlec.ru provides everyone with an opportunity to anonymously "ironically" speak out about various aspects of the city life. The site’s right to exist was upheld by the District Court, and the ban referred to the materials, which, admittedly, no longer existed.