The Supreme Court, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, suspended the ban on the activities of the 'Taliban' in Russia, writes 'Interfax'. The decision was made by Judge Oleg Nefedov, who previously banned the 'LGBT movement' in Russia, recognizing it as 'extremist'. The session was held in a closed format.
At the end of December 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the exclusion of the 'Taliban' from the list of terrorist organizations.
The 'Taliban' was recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia in 2003. In 2021, the 'Taliban' seized power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American troops. They banned women from studying, speaking loudly and laughing in public, wearing bright clothing, visiting gyms, and traveling without a husband. Recently, they also introduced a ban on building windows in new houses that could allow a view of rooms used by women.
Russian authorities have repeatedly promised to exclude the 'Taliban' from the list of terrorist organizations and recognize their power in Afghanistan. At the end of November, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu visited Kabul on an official visit and stated that Russia intends to recognize the power of the 'Taliban' in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, as calculated by 'Verstka'*, from 2016 to 2025, at least 37 people in Russia faced criminal or administrative responsibility in cases related to the banned terrorist movement 'Taliban'.
The majority of them, 20 people, received administrative fines or arrests for publicly displaying the 'Taliban' flag on social networks or messengers. For this, courts imposed fines of 1-2 thousand rubles or sent them to arrest for 5-7 days.
Also, at least nine people became defendants in criminal cases solely under articles on 'public propaganda of terrorism' and 'incitement to terrorism'. Under such charges, defendants were mainly sentenced to real terms, up to a maximum of 12.5 years in a strict regime colony.
One of the most high-profile criminal sentences due to the mention of the 'Taliban' was received by journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova**, who was fined 600 thousand rubles under the article on 'propaganda of terrorism' due to a post in a Telegram channel in which she quoted a text from journalist Orkhan Dzhemal's article.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
** Included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.