The Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has published statistics on articles of the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses applied in the first half of 2024. We present data concerning the application of provisions on public speech and banned groups and provisions on distributing prohibited materials and symbols.
On October 17, 2024, the Judicial Department of the Russian Federation's Supreme Court published statistical data on courts’ activity and criminal sentences for the first half of 2024.
According to these statistics, 649 individuals were convicted of criminal offenses within our area of interest during this period, compared to 1,189 sentenced throughout 2023.
If we expect this number to double, the number of convictions in 2024 will be about 9% higher compared to the preceding year. However, it is worth bearing in mind that in all recent years, the number of sentences issued in the first half of the year has been lower than the corresponding number in the second half.
Of those sentenced in the first half of 2024, 429 offenders were prosecuted under articles pertaining to various kinds of public statements (Article 2073 Part 2 of the Criminal Code (CC), Articles 282, 2824, 280, 2803,
2804, 2052, 3541 and Article 148 Parts 1 and 2 CC) compared to 698 in all of 2023. 220 offenders (vs. 491 for all of 2023) were charged with establishing extremist or terrorist communities and continuing activities of organizations banned as extremist or terrorist (Articles 2821, 2822, 2823, 2054, and 2055 CC). Doubling these numbers will increase the number of those sentenced for speech by about 23% for 2024 compared to 2023, while the number of those punished for involvement in banned organizations will see a 10% decrease. Note that the dynamics have changed: in 2023, both indicators increased compared to 2022, by 9% and 42%, respectively.
In order to avoid double counting of individuals found guilty under our articles of interest, we base our data on main charge, i.e. the article providing for the most severe punishment. However, it should be borne in mind that the number of convictions under each article is, in fact, larger.
The total number of individuals convicted under the most frequently used articles, whether as the main charge or an additional one, is provided below.
Article 2052 (propaganda or justification of terrorism) holds the top spot in the number of criminal sentences related to propaganda in the first half of 2024, as well as in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, 182 people were convicted. It is worth noting that the absolute majority, 164 defendants, were sentenced under Part 2 of the article, i.e. for statements posted on the Internet. Of the 167 convicted under Article 2052 CC as the main charge, 55 were sentenced to imprisonment.
Next is Article 280 (calls for extremist activity), under which 125 people were sentenced in the first half of 2024 – compared to 306 convicted offenders reported in all of 2023 and 356 in 2022 – indicating a continued slowdown in the growth of convictions. The majority of those charged under this article (118 individuals) were found guilty under its second part, i.e. for online statements. Of the 88 people convicted under Article 280 CC as the principal article, 13 were sentenced to imprisonment.
Article 2824, covering repeated propaganda or the display of prohibited symbols, ranked third. A total of 53 individuals were found guilty under this article – already exceeding the 40 convictions recorded for all of 2023. Of these 53, 26 received prison sentences.
31 people in six months were convicted under Article 2073 Part 2 for disseminating false information about the activities of Russian armed forces and officials abroad. The corresponding number was 34 for all of 2023, so there is a sharp increase. We could see twice as many convicted offenders in 2024 as in 2023. We believe that most of these people faced punishment under paragraph "e" (hate motive) of Part 2, so we include their cases in our review. It should also be noted that a significant proportion of these verdicts were issued in absentia. Of the 30 convicted under this part of the article as the main charge, 29 were sentenced to imprisonment.
Courts found 29 people guilty under Article 2803 on repeated discrediting the activities of the Russian army and officials. Three of the 28 individuals convicted under this article as the principal one, were sentenced to imprisonment.
In the first six months of 2024, 22 people were found guilty under Article 282 (incitement to hatred), compared to 68 in all of 2023, suggesting that the year-end figures for 2024 could be at least one-third lower than the previous year. Of the 18 individuals convicted with Article 282 as the principal offense, six received prison sentences.
Sentences under Article 148 Parts 1 and 2 on insulting the feelings of believers were issued against 22 defendants (vs. 13 in all of 2023). Of the 17 individuals convicted under these parts of the article as the main charge, none received prison sentences; eight individuals were sentenced to community service, and nine faced court fines.
In the first half of 2024, 31 guilty verdicts were issued under Article 3541 on the rehabilitation of Nazism, manifesting a noticeable decrease in verdicts in comparison with 73 people convicted in 2023. Of the 24 individuals convicted under this article as the main charge, six were sentenced to imprisonment.
Four people were sentenced under Article 2804 on public calls for activities against the security of the state - the same number as in all of 2023, all of them under Part 2 of the article (for actions committed on the Internet). Two of the three individuals convicted under this part of the article as the main charge were sentenced to imprisonment.
One sentence was issued under Article 2801 on repeated calls to separatism; the convicted offender received a suspended sentence. No such verdicts had been recorded in the previous two years.
Similarly, as in prior years, there were no convictions in 2024 under Article 2802 for violation of Russia's territorial integrity.
Among the articles punishing involvement in radical groups, Article 2822 on organizing activities of an extremist organization and participation in it continues to lead in terms of the number of verdicts this year. However, the increase under this article is not as significant as in prior years. Out of 117 participants of various groups convicted under this article as the principal one, 70 people were sentenced to imprisonment.
In addition, in the first half of 2024, 33 people were punished under Article 2823 Part 1 on financing extremist activities. This was the main charge for 25 convicted individuals; 14 of them were sentenced to imprisonment.
In the first half of the year, only seven people were convicted under Article 2821 for establishing and participating in extremist communities, all of whom were sentenced to imprisonment.
In the first six months of 2024, 66 people faced punishment under Article 2055 (organizing the activities of an organization recognized as terrorist or participating in it). All 50 defendants convicted under this article as the main charge were sentenced to imprisonment.
33 people were convicted under Article 2054 on the creation of terrorist communities with 21 individuals, who were convicted under this article as the main charge, sentenced to imprisonment.
Prosecution rates under all of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) articles of interest, except for Articles 20.3 and 20.3.1, declined in the first half of 2024. However, these two articles showed such significant increases that the total number of administrative punishments could surpass 2023’s figures by year-end.
The total number of sanctions under Articles 20.3 on public display of prohibited symbols and 20.3.1 CAO on incitement to hatred, cited by the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court reached 3,001. The courts imposed a fine in 2610 cases, arrest in 353 cases, community service in 34 cases, and warnings in four cases.
Sanctions under Articles 20.3.2 on calls to violate the territorial integrity of the country and 20.3.4 CAO on calls for sanctions against Russia were imposed on 24 people in six months, all of whom faced fines.
We would like to note that the practice of grouping together these distinctly different CAO articles, as the Judicial Department has done in recent years, is highly problematic. As a result, separate data on each of these four articles – two of which (on prohibited symbols and incitement to hatred) are very frequently applied –remains obscured.
In the first half of 2024, courts sanctioned 172 individuals under Article 20.29 CAO for disseminating extremist materials, continuing the downward trend observed in recent years.
Over six months, 982 individuals faced sanctions under Article 20.3.3 CAO for discrediting the actions of the Russian armed forces and state bodies abroad. The decline in sanctions under this article, which began last year, is ongoing, albeit at a slower pace. Fines were imposed in all cases.
Courts issued only two decisions in six months (same as in the entire previous year) under Article 13.48 CAO (publicly equating the actions of the USSR and Nazi Germany during World War II, denying the decisive role of the Soviet people in Nazi Germany's defeat and denying the USSR’s humanitarian mission in liberating European countries). Both individuals were fined. 
