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Deutsch: Russland: Pussy Riot Videos aus dem Netz verbannt

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-ex...

Moscow Court Designates Pussy Riot Videos As 'Extremist' (3.12.2012)
http://www.rferl.org/content/pussy-riot-video-extremist-russia/2478461...

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)
http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/12/03/special-report-on-russia-enforcemen...

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-...