Russian Federation

[RU] Anti-extremism Amendments

IRIS 2007-9:1/27

Nadezhda Deeva

Moscow Media Law and Policy Centre

On 24 July 2007, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a statute to amend some legal acts (including the Mass Media Statute, the Criminal Code, the Administrative Code, the Anti-Extremism Statute and others) aimed at increasing liability for extremist activities.

The amendments refer directly to the media. Article 4 (“Inadmissibility of Abuse of Mass Communication Freedom”) of the Statute of the Russian Federation “ О средствах массовой информации ” (On mass media) of 27 December 1991, No. 2124-1, was added with the provision that forbids the media from publishing information on the activity of organisations, whose functions are forbidden by a court decision, which has entered into force, and which are included in the Federal list of extremist organisations, without making the appropriate reference to such a decision. According to the amendments, the Federal list of extremist organisations shall be drafted and published on the official website of the government agency in charge of registration of non-commercial organisations (not yet available).

The newly adopted Statute has also amended the Code of the Russian Federation “Oб административных правонарушениях” (On administrative offences) of 30 December 2001, No 195-ФЗ. The newly enacted article 20.29 refers to the liability for the production and dissemination of extremism materials. It provides for serious fines for persons and organisations found guilty of this offence.

Federal Statute “ О противодействии экстремисткой деятельности ” (On counteraction to extremist activity) of 25 July 2002, No 114-ФЗ, was also amended. The new wording of Article 13 therein (which prohibits the production and disseminating of the extremist materials), in contrast to the previous wording, no longer provides any definite criteria for the recognition of the materials as extremist, although it establishes that the materials are extremist once the court decision on it enters into force. The new wording of Articles 9 and 10 contain the provisions on the federal list of extremist organisations. The decision to add an organisation to the list will be taken by the State agency in charge of the registration of non-commercial organisations and will be based on a court decision.

Also, some of the amendments were enacted into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ( Уголовный Кодекс Российской Федерации )of 13 July 1996, No 63-ФЗ and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation ( Уголовно-процессуальный Кодекс Российской Федерации )of 18 December 2001, No 174-ФЗ, in order to increase the liability for crimes committed with extremist and xenophobic motives.