On the evening of February 6, the government submitted three draft amendments to the legislation on extremism to the State Duma, noted 'Mediazona'*.
These changes simplify the procedure for inclusion in the list of 'extremist organizations', which is maintained on the Ministry of Justice's website. It is proposed to include 'extremist communities' there, after at least one of its members has been convicted under the article on participation in an 'extremist community'. In Russia, any informal group of people without structure and registration is often classified as an 'extremist community', and law enforcement often invents it themselves.
One of the submitted bills simplifies the initiation of cases under the article on 'inciting hatred', which is pursued due to publications on the internet. Since 2018, for criminal prosecution, it was necessary for a person to first be punished under the same administrative article before criminal prosecution. The amendments suggest that this requirement can be bypassed and a case can be initiated immediately if the statement is 'associated with justification or propaganda of violence'.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.