Source: www.forum18.org
Date: March 16, 2023
A Moscow court fined Rostislav Charushin for his poster quoting three of
the Bible's Ten Commandments which police said "clearly expresses a
negative attitude towards the use of the Armed Forces". A Petrozavodsk
court is due to hear a case on 20 March against yoga teacher Yekaterina
Kukharskaya for putting stickers around the city bearing the Commandment
"Thou shalt not kill". Buddhist former leader Telo Tulku Rinpoche – who
left Russia in 2022 - became the first religious leader to be declared a
"foreign agent" by the Justice Ministry.
RUSSIA: "Thou shalt not kill" leads to fines
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
Small numbers of Russians continue to express their opposition to Russia's
invasion of Ukraine on grounds of faith or with the use of religious
imagery and quotations – and continue to be detained and fined under
Russia's wartime laws punishing "discrediting" the Armed Forces.
In Moscow, police decided that Rostislav Charushin's poster quoting three
of the Bible's Ten Commandments – including "Thou shalt not kill" -
"clearly expresses a negative attitude towards the use of the Armed Forces
of the Russian Federation to protect the interests of the Russian
Federation and its citizens". A court fined him twice on 9 March for both
"discreditation" (Administrative Code Article 20.3.3) and violation of the
Demonstrations Law (Administrative Code Article 20.2) (see below).
Forum 18 asked Moscow City Interior Ministry why police officers had
detained Charushin for quoting the Bible and peacefully expressing his
beliefs, and why such actions should be considered "discreditation" of the
Armed Forces. Its press office refused to answer Forum 18's questions on
grounds of personal data protection (see below).
In Kareliya in February, Yekaterina Kukharskaya put stickers around the
regional capital, Petrozavodsk, bearing the Sixth Commandment – "Thou
shalt not kill" – and various anti-war slogans. Police have charged her
under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 and she is due to appear in court
on 20 March (see below).
Forum 18 wrote to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Kareliya to ask
why distributing stickers with religious and pacifist content should be
considered "discreditation" of the Armed Forces. Forum 18 received no reply
(see below).
A man in Vladivostok who was briefly taken to a psychiatric unit after
protesting against the war with a poster of the Sixth Commandment was
detained twice more in February. Police have issued him with a formal
warning, but do not appear to have charged him (see below).
On 15 March, the Russian parliament passed a draft law which will increase
maximum punishments under both Criminal Code Article 207.3 and Article
280.3; it will also broaden the grounds on which people may be prosecuted
for these offences and under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 (see
below).
While many Russian religious leaders have supported the invasion of Ukraine
– most notably, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Pentecostal and
Muslim leaders – a few have opposed it and have left the country
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
include Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Lutheran Archbishop
Dietrich Brauer, and the Buddhist Supreme Lama of Kalmykiya, Telo Tulku
Rinpoche. In January 2023, Rinpoche became the first religious leader to be
declared a "foreign agent" by the Russian Justice Ministry (see below).
Roskomnadzor – the state media regulator – continues to block access to
websites. These include sites linked to communities whose activities the
regime has long banned – such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims who read
Said Nursi's works – as well as sites that criticise Russia's invasion of
Ukraine. In January, Roskomnadzor blocked the Ukrainian Islamic news and
information portal "Islam in Ukraine" (see below).
In July 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked the site of Nuntiare et Recreare, a
Russian multi-faith group for LGBT believers – the first religious site
known to have been blocked for its connection to the LGBT community (see
below).
Roskomnadzor has not responded to Forum 18's questions as to why it has
blocked access to these religious websites (see below).
Criminal trials continue
On 15 March, the trial of musician Anna Chagina began in Tomsk under
Criminal Code Article 280.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use
of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the
interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain
international peace and security") (see forthcoming F18News article).
The prosecution accuses Chagina of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian
Armed Forces (https://www.forum18.org/archi
by displaying a poster at a protest reading "Blessed are the peacemakers",
a quote from the Gospels, and latterly by posting anti-war materials on the
VKontakte social media site. Her next hearing is due to take place on 11
April, according to the website of Tomsk's Soviet District Court.
ROCOR priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov – the only other person currently on
trial on criminal charges for opposing the war in Ukraine from a religious
perspective – remains in custody in St Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Petersburg City Court refused his latest appeal against his detention.
The next hearing in Fr Ioann's case – under Criminal Code Article 207.3
("Public dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of
knowingly false information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation") – is due to take place on 10 April at the city's Kalinin
District Court.
"Fakes" and "discreditation"
Specific penalties for criticising Russia's actions in its war against
Ukraine came into force on 4 March 2022. These include Administrative Code
Article 20.3.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation"), which is used against apparently any form of anti-war
statement either in public spaces or online, and Criminal Code Article
207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation").
If individuals commit an offence covered by Administrative Code Article
20.3.3 more than once within a year, they may be prosecuted under Criminal
Code Article 280.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian
Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and
security").
On 14 March, a draft law increasing punishments for repeatedly
"discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces (Criminal Code Article 280.3) and
for spreading "false information" about them (Criminal Code Article 207.3)
passed its third reading in the State Duma. The Federation Council approved
the draft law on 15 March and it was then sent to be signed into law by
President Vladimir Putin.
The draft law also makes these Articles – and Administrative Code Article
20.3.3 – apply to criticism not only of the regular Armed Forces, but
also of "volunteer formations, organisations and individuals who assist in
the fulfilment of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation" (that is, private military outfits such as Wagner).
"Today, every soldier and officer, regardless of whether he is in the Armed
Forces or the volunteers, must understand: lies and slander against him
will be punished, and they are protected by law," Duma speaker Vyacheslav
Volodin said in parliament on 14 March, according to a statement on the
Duma's website.
Under Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1, the maximum prison sentence will
be raised from 3 years to 5 years – under Part 2 (the same offence if
resulting in "death by negligence", harm to health or property, or mass
public disorder), from 5 years to 7 years.
Under Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 1, the maximum prison sentence will
be raised from 3 years to 5 years (Part 2 remains unchanged).
As of 23 February 2023, there had been 139 prosecutions under Criminal Code
Article 207.3, and 49 prosecutions under Criminal Code Article 280.3,
according to human rights group OVD-Info
(https://data.ovdinfo.org/svod
This is out of a total of 447 criminal prosecutions for anti-war
activities. Police and other investigative agencies also use other Criminal
Code Articles against people protesting against the war – such as Article
213 ("Hooliganism"), Article 214 ("Vandalism"), and Article 318 ("Violence
against the authorities") – but are not yet known to have done so to
punish anyone protesting from a religious perspective.
Also as of 23 February, police had initiated 6,003 cases under
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, according to Russian independent media
outlet Mediazona.
Between 24 February 2022 and 23 February 2023, OVD-Info recorded 19,586
detentions of people protesting against the invasion of Ukraine and
latterly against the "partial mobilisation" (announced on 21 September
2022).
Moscow: Fined for quoting the Commandments
On 9 March, Moscow's Tver District Court twice fined Rostislav Anatolyevich
Charushin unknown amounts for protesting against the invasion of Ukraine
with a placard displaying the Second, Sixth, and Eighth of the Bible's Ten
Commandments: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image! Thou shalt
not kill! Thou shalt not steal! [Ne sotvori sebye kumira! Ne ubiy! Ne
ukradi!]"
Police detained Charushin on 27 February for holding up his poster near the
Iverskaya Chapel at the Voskresenskiye Gates to Red Square. His friend
Nikolay Novikov told human rights group OVD-Info that Charushin had been
expressing his opposition to the war in Ukraine. Officers released
Charushin from Kitay-Gorod police station after a few hours, having charged
him under both Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 and Administrative Code
Article 20.2 Part 5 ("Violation by a participant in a public event of the
established procedure for holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, march or
picket").
Judge Alesya Orekhova considered both cases one after the other on the
morning of 9 March. According to her written decision in the Article 20.3.3
prosecution, seen by Forum 18, the police indictment argued that
Charushin's poster "clearly expresses a negative attitude towards the use
of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to protect the interests of
the Russian Federation and its citizens [and] maintain international peace
and security, and is in fact similar in content to publicly available
information posted on the Internet and various social networks broadcasting
a negative attitude towards the ongoing military operation".
Charushin himself stated in court that he had been "expressing his opinion
on the date of Nemtsov's death and in relation to his activities".
(Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on Moskvoretsky Bridge
at the opposite end of Red Square on 27 February 2015.) The judge
nevertheless disregarded this argument.
According to the Article 20.2, Part 5 written decision, also seen by Forum
18, Charushin's protest took place "on territory immediately adjacent to
the residence of the President of the Russian Federation". Under the 2004
Demonstrations Law, this is expressly forbidden – the court also
therefore found Charushin guilty of violating the procedure for holding a
public event. This carries a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 Roubles.
Forum 18 asked Moscow City Interior Ministry why police officers had
detained Charushin for quoting the Bible and peacefully expressing his
beliefs, and why such actions should be considered "discreditation" of the
Armed Forces. Its press office responded on 14 March, refusing to answer
Forum 18's questions on grounds of personal data protection.
Kareliya: Protester "opposes all wars on principle"
In late February, Yekaterina Viktorovna Kukharskaya put anti-war stickers
in public places around the city of Petrozavodsk in north-western Russia.
These said: "No to war [Net voyny]", "Thou shalt not kill [Ne ubiy]", and
"Killing people is wrong [Nelzya ubivat lyudey]".
Police charged Kukharskaya under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation"). Petrozavodsk City Court registered the case on 1
March, according to the court website. She is due to appear in court on 20
March.
According to the administrative indictment, cited by the local news
Telegram channel From Karelia With Freedom on 2 March, Kukharskaya said
during questioning that she "opposes all wars on principle, and as a yoga
teacher adheres to the philosophy of non-violence". She added that she had
had no intention of "discrediting" anyone.
Forum 18 wrote to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Kareliya on 13
March to ask why distributing stickers with religious and pacifist content
should be considered "discreditation" of the Armed Forces. Forum 18 had
received no reply by the end of the working day in Kareliya of 16 March.
Vladivostok: Protester detained twice more
Police in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok detained a local resident on
8 February for a poster quoting the Bible's Sixth Commandment. They
detained the man on two subsequent occasions for similar protests, but he
does not yet appear to have been prosecuted.
The man (named only as Aleksey by human rights group OVD-Info) protested
alone on 8 and 15 February using a placard reading "Thou shalt not kill [Ne
ubivay]. The Bible. Deuteronomy 5:17", on the city's Central Square near
Transfiguration Cathedral.
On the first occasion, after his arrest, officers of the Interior
Ministry's Centre for Countering Extremism called in a "psychiatric
brigade", who took him to a psychiatric clinic
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On the second occasion, police took him in for questioning but released him
with a formal warning [predosterezhenie] about possible administrative
prosecution for violating the Demonstrations Law, "discrediting" the army,
"promoting symbols of a banned organisation", and incitement of hatred,
according to human rights group OVD-Info. It is unclear which banned
organisation could be meant here.
Aleksey told OVD-Info that the reason for this second detention was that he
had said "God is against the special military operation [Bog protiv SVO]"
during his single-person picket. At the police station, officers questioned
him and said they would send a report to the Centre for Countering
Extremism.
Aleksey appears to have been detained for a third time in Vladivostok's
Central Square on 24 February (the first anniversary of Russia's invasion
of Ukraine), on this occasion with a placard reading "Do not fight because
you will not succeed". (The quotation appears to be derived from the
Bible's 2 Chronicles 13:12 "Do not fight against the Lord, the God of your
ancestors, because you will not succeed".) Police again released him after
questioning.
No case under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 ("Public actions aimed at
discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation") or any
other Article yet appears to have been opened against him, according to
Vladivostok court records.
First religious leader declared a "foreign agent"
On 27 January 2023, the Justice Ministry named Telo Tulku Rinpoche
(Erdni-Basan Ombadykov), the Dalai Lama's representative in Russia, as a
"foreign agent" – the first religious leader to be added to the "foreign
agents" register (https://www.forum18.org/archi
following day, Rinpoche – who had left the country some months earlier
– stood down from his position as president (Supreme Lama) of the
Association of Buddhists of Kalmykiya.
"I wish that the people of Kalmykiya and all followers of Buddhism in these
difficult times maintain courage, steadfastness, and adherence to the
ideals of compassion, love and non-violence, on which is based the Teaching
of the Buddha that we profess," Rinpoche said in a statement on 28 January
on the website of the Central Khuruk of Kalmykiya. "In my thoughts, deeds,
and prayers, I remain with the Kalmyk people and Buddhists of all Russia,
to whose service I dedicated my life."
In a statement of 27 January explaining the latest additions to the
register of foreign agents, the Justice Ministry said
(https://minjust.gov.ru/ru/eve
against the special military operation in Ukraine and openly spoke in
support of Ukraine, and is a US citizen. He lives outside the Russian
Federation."
By law, a religious organisation cannot be declared a foreign agent
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
has received support and/or is under foreign influence in other forms" and
carries out particular activities). Clergy and laypeople – like other
individuals – can be.
The definitions of "support", "foreign influence", and relevant activities
are so broad that the Justice Ministry could interpret almost any
interaction between an individual and a foreign or international
organisation, a foreign government, or even a foreign citizen as grounds
for inclusion in the register, should it wish to do so.
Rinpoche – who was born in the US city of Philadelphia to Kalmyk parents
– trained as a monk in India and was appointed Supreme Lama of Kalmykiya
in 1992. He currently lives in Mongolia. On 15 February 2023, the Dalai
Lama confirmed Tendzin Choydak (Mutul Ovyanov) as Rinpoche's successor.
"I didn't want to spoil relations between the authorities and our
Buddhists"
On 30 September 2022, when Telo Tulku Rinpoche was already in Mongolia, he
gave an interview on the YouTube channel "Alchemy of the Soul"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch
think Ukraine is in the right here, because they are defending their
country, their land, their Constitution, their people". He noted that he
had not spoken out against the war at first because "I didn't want to spoil
relations between the authorities and our Buddhists .. but nevertheless
every morning I always prayed for everyone, Buddhists and non-Buddhists".
The response of Russian Buddhists to Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine
has been mixed. Head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangkha of Russia Vasily
Ayusheyev said on Buryaad FM radio on 28 February 2022 that "We live in a
single Russian state and protect the interests of our country, against
which a dirty information war is being waged".
"This is a sacred duty. We Buddhists must defend our homeland," Ayusheyev
added to Izvestiya on 30 September 2022, noting that he was proud of the
participation of fellow believers in the war.
Buda Badmayev, who heads the Gunzechoyney Datsan in St Petersburg, told the
Regnum.ru news website on 18 March 2023 that "we support the leadership of
the country in all endeavours".
On 23 October 2022, police detained Danara Erdniyevna Erendzhenova outside
the Datsan (https://www.forum18.org/archi
displaying a poster reading "Militarism is very expensive – Dalai Lama
XIV" (a quotation from the 14th Dalai Lama's essay, "The Reality of War",
written in 2011). On 1 December 2022, St Petersburg's Primorsky District
Court fined her 30,000 Roubles (about 10 days' average local wages) under
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, in his YouTube interview of 30 September 2022,
commented that he believed the pro-war Buddhist leaders "have to say that
to protect their people, the Buddhists in their republics. If they are real
Buddhists, I don't think they support the war".
Moscow's former Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt has also spoken of Russian
government pressure on leaders of religious organisations. "Many religious
leaders were pressured by the government to support the war," he said on 15
March 2023 during an online US Commission on International Religious
Freedom hearing.
"We decided that we cannot do it or we will not do it," Rabbi Goldschmidt
added, "and after I decided that being silent is also not enough, I decided
to leave the country in order to officially take a position against the war
and criticise the war, which is a catastrophe not only for Ukraine, but
also for Russia and for the Jewish community of both countries."
Leaked Roskomnadzor list of potential "foreign agents"
The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information
Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) – the state media regulator –
has compiled reports over some years on individuals and organisations for
their potential inclusion in the register of foreign agents
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Ministry makes the final decision on inclusion.)
In early February 2023, a large data leak from Roskomnadzor subsidiary
GRChTs (Main Radio Frequency Centre) yielded a list of individuals and
organisations on whom Roskomnadzor had compiled such reports between 2020
and 2022.
The list of names, published by the Russian investigative news website
iStories
(https://istories.media/storie
February, includes Aleksandr Verkhovsky, head of the Moscow-based SOVA
Centre for Information and Analysis (https://www.sova-center.ru/) (on whom
a report was compiled on 18 October 2022) and Orthodox commentator Deacon
Andrey Kurayev (on whom a report was compiled on 16 June 2021).
The SOVA Centre monitors religion in Russian society, the misuse of
Russia's Extremism Law, and ultra-nationalism and xenophobia in Russia. It
was itself declared a foreign agent
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Andrey Kurayev is a well-known critic of the Moscow Patriarchate who has
himself been demoted from the rank of Archdeacon and threatened with
defrocking over comments he made about a senior cleric who died of Covid in
2020. In August 2022, a Moscow court fined him 30,000 Roubles
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Code Article 20.3.3 for anti-war statements on his LiveJournal blog.
Blocked websites
The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information
Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has blocked access to many
websites over some years. In 2014, it blocked the now defunct site
www.nurru.com, which published works of the late Turkish Muslim theologian
Said Nursi, including many which Russian courts have banned as "extremist"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Jehovah's Witness website, www.jw.org, in 2015 (two years before the
organisation itself was banned in Russia in 2017
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Since Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, Roskomnadzor has blocked access
to over 10,000 websites, both Russian and foreign, for reasons of "military
censorship", according to a report of 8 February 2023
(https://roskomsvoboda.org/pos
organisation Roskomsvoboda. Such sites have generally described events in
Ukraine as a "war", discussed Russian losses or alleged atrocities, or
criticised the Russian government and armed forces.
These include: foreign media outlets (such as Radio Free Europe, the BBC,
Deutsche Welle); Russian independent media (Meduza, Mediazona, Novaya
Gazeta, People of Baykal) and mirror sites set up to get round earlier
blocks; human rights organisations (Human Rights Watch, Moscow Helsinki
Group); the sites and blogs of individual activists; and social networks
such as Twitter and Facebook.
Roskomsvoboda notes that the largest proportion of such blocks have been
made at the request of the General Prosecutor's Office, which is able to do
this without recourse to the courts – but that no such requests have
appeared on the register since 15 November 2022. Instead, Roskomnadzor has
blocked more than 7,500 sites at the request of an "unspecified state
agency" (more than 1,000 on the basis of military censorship).
(The Justice Ministry added Roskomsvoboda itself to the register of foreign
agents on 23 December 2022.)
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Roskomnadzor blocked material
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
website of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (hosted by the
Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv), a Belarusian news report on the
destruction of Ukrainian religious buildings, a Ukrainian Protestant
pastor's appeal to fellow clergy in Russia speak out against the invasion,
and Fordham University's Orthodox Christian Studies Centre's website
publicorthodoxy.org, which has published several articles critical of the
Moscow Patriarchate's support for the war.
On 7 July 2022, at the request of the General Prosecutor's Office,
Roskomnadzor blocked a page on the Messianic Jewish internet portal
www.ieshua.org – this contains an anti-war poem by a former head of
Russia's Baptist Union, Yury Sipko, which includes the lines "'Lord! Who
are you for?' / 'For the Ukrainians', the Lord answered without delay. / 'I
am always for those who are humiliated, insulted [oskorblyayut] and
killed'. / 'After all, I came to the humiliated and insulted".
Despite the block ostensibly being placed only on this page, the whole
website is currently inaccessible in Russia, according to GlobalCheck.
On 11 July 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked www.nuntiare.org, the site of Russian
LGBT Ministry Nuntiare et Recreare. This is a multi-faith group for LGBT
believers which holds meetings in St Petersburg, provides pastoral care,
and collates LGBT-affirmative theological materials on its website. This
block was requested by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodyozh).
This is the first religious site known to have been blocked for its
connection to the LGBT community.
On 20 January 2023, Roskomnadzor blocked the Ukrainian Islamic news and
information portal "Islam in Ukraine" (www.islam.in.ua) at the request of
an "unspecified state agency".
Forum 18 wrote to Roskomnadzor on 22 February to ask why it had blocked
these materials and which state agency had requested the block on "Islam in
Ukraine". Forum 18 had received no reply by the end of the working day in
Moscow of 16 March. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background see Forum 18's survey of the general state of freedom
of religion and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
18's survey of the dramatic decline in this freedom related to Russia's
Extremism Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
A personal commentary by the Director of the SOVA Center for Information
and Analysis (https://www.sova-center.ru), Alexander Verkhovsky, about the
systemic problems of Russian "anti-extremism" laws
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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