The State Duma has passed amendments in the final reading that tighten anti-extremism legislation.

The State Duma has adopted a package of amendments in both the second and the final, third reading, which tighten anti-extremism legislation. The Roskomsvoboda project drew attention to this.

The first law introduces additions to the article on organising and participating in the activities of an extremist organisation (Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and the article on the procedure for appealing to a court decision (Article 393 of the Criminal Procedure Code). This will allow the authorities to designate any community as an extremist organisation if any of its organisers or participants is found guilty under the corresponding article.

The second law amends the law “On Mass Media” and the law “On Counteracting Extremism.” The amendments clarify the wording that regulates the dissemination of information about terrorist and extremist organisations. The list of extremist organisations will include not only legal entities, but extremist communities as well, if their participants are convicted under the relevant criminal articles. The document updates the procedure for maintaining the register of such organisations: information about them will be published on the internet and in official publications.

The third law supplements the article on abuse of freedom of information (Part 2, Article 13.15 of the Administrative Offences Code). Now, when extremist or terrorist organisations are mentioned online or in the media, it is mandatory to indicate the disbandment of the organisation or the ban on its activities. The maximum penalty under this article is 50,000 roubles (US$560) and confiscation of the object used in the violation.

The laws will enter into force from the day they are published.

The draft laws were introduced to the State Duma in February. “This mechanism could trigger a domino effect: it will start with isolated cases, followed by the automatic expansion of the status of an extremist organisation to an entire group, and then a sharp increase in the number of those accused. Moreover, including a community in the register of extremist organisations means that all restrictions previously applicable only to organisations will start to apply to it,” said OVD-Info legal expert Eva Levenberg.

“The proposed amendments are presented as measures to combat socially dangerous phenomena. In practice, however, they expand the scope for criminal prosecution of dissent, reduce legal certainty and are likely to lead to an increase in the number of political cases,” Levenberg said.