“Authorities can designate individuals as 'terrorists' and 'extremists' and isolate them from financial services and basic income without the need for a court order. significantly throughout Russian society.”
Worrying increase in terrorism-related lawsuits
In the first six months of 2023 alone, Russian courts have found 39 people guilty of committing or planning terrorist attacks, more than in any other year in the last decade.
Since 2013, 3,738 people have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes. It is noteworthy that more than 90% of these convictions were not related to committed or planned terrorist attacks, but for various other acts, such as the alleged “justification of terrorism”.
The number of convictions in this context has increased 50-fold in the last ten years. Since 2015, when statistics were first made available, no one accused of terrorist crimes has been acquitted.
As of December 2023, the list of “terrorists and extremists” compiled by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service included 13,647 people, of which 11,286 were designated “terrorists.” Inclusion on this list, which occurs without any judicial review, results in the freezing of bank accounts and limits monthly expenses to 10,000 rubles (around 100 euros). This poses significant challenges for those on the list to maintain basic living standards.
Arbitrary use of terrorism charges
Many of the recent terrorism accusations have targeted people who protested war or military mobilization by throwing “Molotov cocktails” at recruitment centers and other official buildings. The classification of at least some of these acts, which did not pose a risk of serious harm, as “terrorism” raises concerns that Russian authorities are abusing these charges.
Hundreds of people have been found guilty of “justifying terrorism” for discussing or expressing sympathy for certain actions or entities arbitrarily classified as “terrorist” by Russian authorities. After Russia's full invasion of Ukraine, expressions of sympathy for Ukraine – such as joy over military successes or support for Ukrainian military units staffed by Russian volunteers – were sufficient for such criminal prosecutions.
A drastic example is the designation of Aleksei Navalny's non-governmental organization Anti-Corruption Foundation as an “extremist organization”, effectively criminalizing one of the loudest civil initiatives in Russia. People who donated money, participated or shared their content with this and similar groups – even before they were arbitrarily designated as extremists – are now at risk of criminal prosecution and long prison sentences.
“In light of these findings, Amnesty International calls for a thorough review of Russia's anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws to align them with international human rights standards, prevent the criminalization of peaceful dissent and protect fundamental rights.
We call on the international community to report these abuses in all relevant forums, to defend the rights of those who are unfairly persecuted, and to take these practices into consideration when dealing with the Russian authorities.
Amnesty International