Russia: Pussy Riot's videos declared illegal on the Internet
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Deutsch: [Russland: Pussy Riot Videos aus dem Netz verbannt | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.23_Russland_Pussy_Riot_Videos_aus_dem_Netz_verbannt?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121205]
A Moscow-based court has ruled on 29 November 2012 that four videos of
the already famous dissident punk band Pussy Riot are extremist and
therefore should be banned on the Russian Internet. The court said that
all the Russian websites that do not comply with this obligation could
pay a fine of up to approx. 2500 Euro (100 000 roubles). Prosecutors
took up the case on the request of State Duma member Alexander
Starovoitov, from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.
The court refused to allow the participation in the hearing of the one
member of the punk band that was not convicted. Yekaterina Samutsevich,
was freed last month after a court suspended her sentence.
A Google representative confirmed that they would block the content on
YouTube in Russia after they would receive the court order information.
Under the Russian law, providers who host forbidden content are subject
to criminal prosecution.
“Whatever you think about these videos, they have become a part of the
history of this country. Just as in old times, we burned books. Now we
are deleting video clips which have undoubted historic significance.”
commented Russian blogger and analyst Oleg Kozyrev to the Radio Free
Europe.
The extremist nature of the videos was explained by the fact that it
offended the Orthodox Christians, by shooting the anti-Putin performance
video at Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral. This is why probably
a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church welcomed the ruling.
The ruling “violates the right to freedom of expression and shows the
continued failure of the Russian justice system to protect political and
artistic dissent,” said Dr Agnes Callamard, Executive Director of the
EDRi member ARTICLE 19, and explained that “the Russian government is
trying to hide its attacks on democracy, claiming that the punk prayer
which mocks the corrupt relationship between Putin and the church’s
patriarch is an attack on religious believers”.
The ruling should be enforced starting with 1 January 2013, but could be
appealed. It is not clear who may appeal, though, after the
spokeswoman for Moscow’s Court, told journalists that Samutsevich has
no right to appeal the court’s decision because she did not take part in
the hearing.
But the Russian authorities might aim at more rules on the Internet.
During the joint news conference held in Paris on 27 November 2012 by
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and French Prime Minister
Jean-Marc Ayrault, Medvedev was asked a question of legislative scrutiny
with regard to internet regulation in Russia. In his reply, the Russian
prime minister admitted that the current legislation regulating the
Internet is “imperfect” and called upon the international community to
“consider parameters to regulate the operation of the internet on the
national or international level.” He also noted that the Russian
Internet legislation “should not be referred to as repressive because
not a single online source has been blocked or cut off during the
enforcement of this legislation.“
Moscow court orders removal of ‘extremist’ Pussy Riot online videos
(3.12.2012)
http://netprophet.tol.org/2012/12/03/moscow-court-orders-removal-of-extremist-pussy-riot-online-videos/
Moscow Court Designates Pussy Riot Videos As ‘Extremist’ (3.12.2012)
http://www.rferl.org/content/pussy-riot-video-extremist-russia/24784613.html
Moscow Court Finds Pussy Riot Video ‘Extremist’ (29.11.2012)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20121129/177815365.html
Special Report On Russia: Enforcement Against Online Copyright
Infringement (3.12.2012)
Special Report Russia’s Enforcement Against Online Copyright Infringement
Transcript of the Medvedev- Ayrault common press conference (27.11.2012)
http://government.ru/eng/docs/21621/
Russia: Pussy Riot ‘punk prayer’ video banned (30.11.2012)
http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/3547/en/russia:-pussy-riot-%E2%80%98punk-prayer%E2%80%99-video-banned