Putin has signed a package of amendments tightening anti-extremism legislation

Vladimir Putin has signed a package of amendments tightening anti-extremism legislation, reports TASS.

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 group as an extremist organisation if any of its organisers or participants is found guilty under the relevant article.

The second law amends the law “On Mass Media” and the law “On Countering Extremism.” The amendments clarify the wording regulating the dissemination of information about terrorist and extremist organisations. The list of extremist organisations will now include groups if even one member is convicted under the article on involvement in an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). Previously, this list only included groups for which there was an enforceable court ruling recognising them as extremist organisations. The document updates the procedure for maintaining the register of extremist organisations: information about them will be published online and in official publications.

The third law supplements the article on abuse of freedom of information (Part 2 of Article 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offences). From now on, when mentioning extremist or terrorist organisations online or in the media, it is required to note that the organisation has been dissolved or banned. The maximum penalty under this article is 50,000 rubles (approximately US$550) plus confiscation of the item of the violation.

The package of draft laws was submitted to the State Duma in February. “Such a mechanism could trigger a domino effect: at first, isolated cases, then the automatic extension of extremist organisation status to the entire group, followed by a sharp rise in the number of those accused. What’s more, including a group in the register of extremist organisations means that all restrictions previously applying only to organisations will start to apply to them as well,” noted OVD-Info lawyer Eva Levenberg.