Russia’s Supreme Courtroom outlawed what it termed the “Worldwide Motion of Satanists” as hostile to conventional religions on Wednesday, within the newest incarnation of the Kremlin’s sweeping crackdown on ideological dissent.
“At this time, the Supreme Courtroom of the Russian Federation granted the lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor Common of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, recognizing the Worldwide Motion of Satanists as extremist and banning its actions inside Russia,” the Prosecutor Common’s Workplace mentioned in a press release.
“As established, the motion relies on extremist ideology, hatred and hostility towards conventional spiritual confessions,” the assertion added.
Regardless of the official-sounding identify, the “Worldwide Motion of Satanists” doesn’t seem to exist, no less than not underneath that moniker. Unbiased Russian-language information outlet Meduza, primarily based in Latvia, wrote that the Supreme Courtroom has beforehand “additionally banned different fictitious actions” such because the “worldwide LGBT motion” after which “used that designation to persecute LGBTQ+ people and censor inventive works.”
Undeterred, the prosecutor’s workplace accused the Satanists of inciting violence towards spiritual establishments and fascinating in “destruction, harm and desecration of Orthodox church buildings,” and linked the motion to “radical nationalism and neo-Nazism.”
Russia’s Deputy Justice Minister Oleg Sviridenko mentioned the ban was the results of coordinated efforts between regulation enforcement and the judiciary “inside the framework of state management geared toward defending nationwide pursuits and strengthening public security.”
The Russian Orthodox Church and conservative lawmakers have known as for years for Satanist ideology to be outlawed. In April Russia’s decrease home of parliament, the State Duma, hosted a roundtable on combating Satanism and different beliefs thought-about a risk to Russian statehood.
The ruling provides to a rising checklist of ideological and non secular actions focused underneath Russia’s 2002 extremism regulation, a instrument critics argue has usually been used to stifle criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church and Kremlin insurance policies.