The accused in the case of searching for "extremist materials" refused to testify

The Magistrate's court in the Sverdlovsk region has returned to the police for revision the first administrative case in Russia on the search for "extremist materials" on the Internet. This was reported to Izvestia on November 6 by the lawyer of the accused, Sergei Barsukov.

According to the defense lawyer, a 20-year-old medic from Kamensk-Uralsky, who had previously admitted guilt during the interrogation stage, completely recanted his testimony in court. The young man stated that he had no intention of seeking prohibited information, and his initial confessions were the result of psychological pressure.

The incident occurred in September, when an employee of a medical institution, while on public transport, was browsing the news on the Internet and accidentally went to pages with articles about organizations banned in the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the lawyer, the telecom operator recorded the fact of accessing these materials and transmitted the data to the security authorities.

"My client is a decent citizen who had no intention of violating the law. We consider the case to be groundless," Barsukov said in a comment to Izvestia.

The court, having studied the case materials, agreed with the arguments of the defense about the existence of significant shortcomings in the case and returned it to the police to eliminate the flaws.

This is the first application of a new article of the Administrative Code, which provides for a fine of up to 5,000 rubles for intentionally searching for extremist materials.

The lawyer also noted that this precedent indicates that there are serious problems in the law enforcement practice of the new legislation. According to him, the lack of clear criteria for determining the "premeditation" of user actions can lead to the prosecution of innocent citizens.

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Earlier, on November 6, the press service of the Moscow prosecutor's office reported that an administrative case had been opened against St. Petersburg rapper Icegergert (real name - Georgy Gergert) for propaganda of extremist symbols. The reason was a public statement by the rapper at a concert in Moscow, where he uttered the slogan of the extremist group "Prisoner Criminal Unity" (banned in the territory of the Russian Federation), which is banned in Russia.

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