CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 28 août 2018

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page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12pt }       THIRD SECTION                   CASE OF IBRAGIM IBRAGIMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA   (Applications nos. 1413/08 and 28621/11)           JUDGMENT           STRASBOURG   28 August 2018   FINAL   04/02/2019   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Ibragim Ibragimov and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Helena Jäderblom, President,   Dmitry Dedov,   Pere Pastor Vilanova,   Alena Poláčková,   Georgios A. Serghides,   Jolien Schukking,   María Elósegui, judges, and Stephen Phillips, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 10 July 2018, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in two applications (nos.   1413/08 and 28621/11) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Russian national and two Russian non-profit organisations listed in the Appendix, on 3 December 2007 and 4 April 2011 respectively. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr S. Sychev, a lawyer practising in Moscow. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin,   Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights, and then by his successor in that office, Mr   M. Galperin. 3.     The applicants alleged, in particular, that a ban on publishing and distributing Islamic books had violated their rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression. 4.     On 18 March 2011 and 27 November 2013 the above complaints were communicated to the Government and the remainder of application no.   28621/11 was declared inadmissible pursuant to Rule 54 § 3 of the Rules of Court. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.     Application no. 1413/08 ( Ibragim Ibragimov and Cultural Educational Fund “Nuru Badi” v. Russia ) 5.     The first applicant is one of the founders and the chief executive officer of the second applicant, a non-profit organisation. 6.     The second applicant is the publisher of the Risale-I Nur Collection, an exegesis on the Qur’an written by Muslim Turkish scholar Said Nursi in the first half of the 20 th century. The books from that collection were used for religious and educational purposes in Russian mosques and medreses. 7.     On 28 March 2005 the prosecutor of the Tatarstan Republic instituted criminal proceedings against members of the religious movement Nurculuk ( Нуржулар ) based on the writings of Said Nursi. They were charged with incitement of hatred or discord, as well as abasement of human dignity, an offence under Article 282 of the Criminal Code, for having distributed Said Nursi’s books from the Risale-I Nur Collection. 8.     On 24 April 2006 the prosecutor of the Tatarstan Republic applied to the Koptevskiy District Court of Moscow, asking that the following books from the Risale-I Nur Collection published by the second applicant be declared extremist and banned (see sections 1 and 13 of the Suppression of Extremism Act cited in paragraphs 41 and 42 below): -     “Faith and Man”, 2000 edition, translated by M.G. Tamimdarov; -     “The Foundations of Sincerity”, 2000 edition, translator not specified; -     “The Truths of an Eternal Soul”, 2000 edition, translated by M.   Sh.   Abdullaev; -     “The Truths of Faith”, 2000 edition, translator not specified; -     “The Guide for Women”, 2000 edition, translated by M.   Sh.   Abdullaev; -     “The Fruits of Faith”, 2000, translated by M. G. Tamimdarov; -     “Ramadan. Care. Thankfulness”, 2000 edition, translator not specified; -     “Munajat (Prayer). The Third Ray”, 2002 edition, translated by M.   G.   Tamimdarov; -     “Thirty-three Windows”, 2004 edition, translated by M. Irsala; -     “The Foundations of Brotherhood”, 2004 edition, translated by M.   G.   Tamimdarov; -     “The Path of Truth”, 2004 edition, translated by M. Sh. Abdullaev and M. G. Tamimdarov; -     “The Staff of Moses”, year of publication not specified, translated by T. N. Galimov and M. G. Tamimdarov; -     “The Short Words”, year of publication not specified, translated by M.   G. Tamimdarov; and -     “Book for the Sick”, 2003 edition, translated by M. G. Tamimdarov. 9.     The prosecutor enclosed expert opinions prepared in the framework of the criminal cases against the members of Nurculuk by four psychologists and a psychiatrist. The experts found that the above-mentioned texts attempted to subconsciously influence the reader to form irrational values and opinions. The reader was thus deprived of the ability to think critically and independently and to choose his religion freely. The texts led the reader to form a negative opinion about adherents of other faiths and thus encouraged hatred and enmity towards them. They also advocated the idea of people’s superiority or inferiority, depending on their religion. In particular, the texts by Said Nursi incited the reader to look at non-believers with disdain and aversion, and therefore promoted discord between believers and non-believers. Muslims guilty of apostasy from Islam were even denied the right to life. The experts concluded that Said Nursi’s texts formed in the reader feelings of aversion, anger, hatred and enmity towards non-believers. 10.     The second applicant and the Council of Mufti of Russia were invited to participate in the proceedings as third parties. 11 .     On 4 August 2006 the Council of Mufti of Russia submitted an alternative expert opinion by a panel of experts consisting of a doctor of theology and a doctor of religious philosophy. The experts found that in his books, Said Nursi explained the foundations of the Islamic doctrine, and provided a commentary on the Qur’an. His commentary was in conformity with the classical version of Islam. The books did not contain any extremist statements and did not call for violence or ethnic or religious enmity. Although some texts indeed morally condemned sinners and non-believers, blaming them for the immorality of modern society, such discourse was characteristic of all religious texts. A perusal of the texts also revealed that their author promoted the peaceful coexistence of religions and dialogue between them. The experts criticised the conclusions made by the prosecutor’s experts who, in their opinion, were incompetent in religious matters and did not have even a basic knowledge of Islam. The reproaches made by them against Said Nursi’s books could have been made against any theological treatise, be it Muslim, Christian or Judaic, or any other religious text. 12.     In his letter of 4 August 2006 the Chief Mufti of Russia endorsed the above-mentioned expert opinion. He said that the prosecutor’s experts had interpreted faith in the righteousness of any religion and the preaching of that faith as propaganda about people’s superiority or inferiority, depending on their religion. The experts’ findings had therefore been based on anti ‑ religion concepts and could be applied to any religious text. Said Nursi’s books did not contain any calls to do harm to non-believers or adherents to other religions, to infringe their rights or to otherwise violate Russian laws. 13 .     Counsel for the second applicant submitted the following documents to the Koptevskiy District Court: -     a letter from the president of the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia, stating that Said Nursi’s texts could not be qualified as extremist or fanatical. They did not contain any calls for violence, ethnic or religious hatred or for overthrowing governments. Rather, they promoted Islamic values of goodness, love and belief in God; -     a letter from the president of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Tatarstan Republic affirming that Said Nursi was a respected commentator of the Qur’an. He called for love towards all people irrespective of their ethnic origin, race or religion and advocated clemency, compassion, peace, brotherhood and mutual understanding. He encouraged interreligious dialogue and opposed all radical actions and attitudes; -     a letter from the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation arguing against declaring Said Nursi’s texts extremist literature as this would violate the rights of Muslims to freedom of religion; -     a letter by Professor J. from the International Islamic University in Malaysia, stating that Said Nursi’s texts called for reconciliation, peaceful co-existence and cooperation between different religions and cultures, as well as for justice, tolerance, freedom and love; -     a specialist opinion by the Department of Islamic Studies of the Tatarstan Republic Institute of History, according to which the books by Said Nursi called for self-development and moral perfection, and spoke against violence. For that reason his books were an important tool in the fight against religious extremism. Although he indeed stated that Islam was superior to other religions and to atheism, such statements were inherent in all religious texts; -     a letter from Mr M., a Catholic priest and the Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue of the Society of Jesus, affirming that the texts written by Said Nursi belonged to mainstream Islam and were rooted in the centuries-old Islamic tradition. They did not contain any elements of extremism. On the contrary, they were a moderating force in Islam, proposing to Muslims a way of life that was tolerant and open to others. They explicitly endorsed Muslim-Christian cooperation and unity, and stimulated friendship and positive relations between Muslims and followers of Christianity; -     a copy of the decision of 1984 of the prosecutor’s office of Istanbul not to initiate criminal proceedings against the publisher of the Risale-I Nur Collection in Turkey. The prosecutor’s office referred to an expert opinion which did not find any indications of a criminal offence in Said Nursi’s texts; -     copies of expert opinions delivered in 1960 by a group of Turkish experts at the request of several Turkish prosecutors. The experts had found that the books by Said Nursi did not contain any harmful or unlawful statements; -     a letter from the Council on Religious Matters of the Committee of Ministers of the Turkish Republic, stating that Said Nursi’s books contained directions on moral and religious issues inspired by the Qur’an and did not touch on politics. Said Nursi had been a respected theologian who had always distanced himself from political, ideological and extremist activities, as well as from radical Islam. He had proclaimed that the truth was to be found through dialogue and had spoken against hatred and all forms of compulsion; -     a letter from the Ministry of Justice of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Mufti of Egypt, submitting that Said Nursi’s texts were beneficial to the reader as they taught love of God and high moral values, and condemned envy, hatred, anger and resentment; -     a letter from the director general of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, stating that Said Nursi’s texts promoted love of God, the importance of prayer and high moral values. His books did not contain any insulting or hostile statements against adherents of other religions or persons belonging to other races; -     a letter from Dr T., a professor of the Institute of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies of the University of Durham, submitting that Said Nursi’s books did not contain any statements aimed at stirring up religious hatred. Said Nursi had been extremely careful throughout his life to foster a sense of solidarity between followers of different religions and that was reflected in his texts. Nor did his books contain statements promoting the idea of exclusiveness, superiority or inferiority of people based on their religious affiliation or ethnic origin or justifying extremist activities. Said Nursi was one of the few modern Muslim scholars who unequivocally opposed the ideas of extremism, political activism or offensive jihad. His texts provided a welcome antidote to the militancy of the contemporary Islamic discourse as they proscribed military jihad altogether, be it offensive or defensive, and said that Islam was not to be defended by the sword but by the force of reason, progress and civilisation. 14.     On 9 November 2006 the Koptevskiy District Court ordered an expert opinion and appointed a panel of experts consisting of a philologist, a linguist psychologist, a social psychologist and a psychologist from the Linguistics and Psychology Departments of the Russian Academy of Science. 15.     Counsel for the second applicant appealed, submitting that the appointed experts were incompetent in religious matters. He asked the court to appoint persons with expertise in religious issues. On 26 December 2006 the Moscow City Court rejected the appeal and upheld the decision of 9   November 2006. 16 .     On 15 February 2007 the experts delivered their joint report, finding that Said Nursi’s texts encouraged religious discord between believers and non-believers, contained negative and humiliating statements about non ‑ believers and promoted the notion that believers had superiority over non-believers. Accordingly, they made the following findings: “1.     The printed texts submitted for expert review contain statements aiming to incite religious discord (between believers and non-believers, that is on grounds of attitude to religion) and also statements substantiating and justifying the necessity of disseminating the above statements and declarations. 2.     The printed texts submitted for expert review contain verbal expressions giving humiliating depictions, an unfavourable emotional assessment and a negative evaluation of people on the basis of their attitude to religion. 3.     The printed texts submitted for expert review contain propaganda about the superiority or inferiority of citizens based on their attitude to religion (believers or non-believers) and contain statements substantiating and justifying the necessity of disseminating such ideas and world-views. They do not advocate ideas concerning people’s superiority or inferiority based on their ethnic origin.” 17 .     Counsel for the second applicant submitted to the Koptevskiy District Court the following specialist opinions, criticising the report of 15   February 2007: -     a specialist opinion by Mr Mu., president of the Russian Islamic University, who found that the court-appointed experts were not competent in religious matters and that they had quoted and analysed Said Nursi’s statements out of context. Although in his books Said Nursi indeed criticised the Western way of life and condemned non-believers, he did not promote hatred or enmity towards those who did not share his opinion. Moreover, similar statements were present in all religious texts; -     a specialist opinion by Mr S., a doctor of law specialising in Muslim law, who expressed similar criticisms of the report of 15 February 2007 and found that Said Nursi’s texts did not contain any propaganda in favour of discrimination, hatred or religious superiority. On the contrary, they were permeated with ideas of brotherhood, friendship and goodness, while anger and hatred were clearly condemned; -     a specialist opinion by Mr Me., a doctor of philosophy specialising in religious matters, who came to the same conclusions. He found, in particular, that Said Nursi’s texts were no different from other religious texts in terms of assuming that their religion was superior to the others and condemning non-believers. 18.     Counsel for the second applicant again asked the court to appoint experts in religious matters. On 9 April 2007 the Koptevskiy District Court rejected his request, finding that only experts in psychology, social psychology and linguistics could analyse the meaning of the texts. 19.     On 28 April 2007 the Koptevskiy District Court ordered an additional expert opinion by the same experts. 20 .     On 15 May 2007 the experts delivered an additional expert report, confirming their previous findings. 21.     During a closed hearing before the Koptevskiy District Court, two of the experts who had prepared the expert reports submitted by the prosecutor confirmed their previous findings. They said that the texts had been analysed from the perspective of social psychology. One of them, however, added that the analysed texts did not contain any explicit calls for social, racial, ethnic or religious discord. 22.     Two of the court-appointed experts were also questioned and confirmed their findings. 23 .     A co-president of the Council of Mufti of Russia stated that Said Nursi was a world-renowned Muslim scholar whose texts formed an integral part of the official teachings of Islam. They did not contain any extremist statements. Any religious text would be found irrational and extremist by an atheist. The ban on Said Nursi’s books would hinder the religious life of Russian Muslims and unjustifiably restrict their freedom of religion. 24.     A specialist called by the applicants, a doctor of philosophy, criticised the experts appointed by the prosecution for taking fragments of text out of context and thereby distorting their meaning. Said Nursi’s texts indeed proclaimed the superiority of Islam over other religions, but all religions did that. 25 .     On 21 May 2007 the Koptevskiy District Court declared the books written by Said Nursi extremist material. After summarising the applicable domestic law, the submissions by the parties and the documents produced by them in support of their positions, it referred to the expert opinions commissioned by it. It held: “It follows from [the court-appointed expert reports of 15 February and 15 May 2007] that Said Nursi’s books from the Risale-I Nur Collection [list of books] contain statements aiming to incite religious discord (between believers and non-believers, that is on grounds of attitude to religion) and also statements substantiating and justifying the necessity of disseminating the above-mentioned statements and declarations. The books contain verbal expressions giving humiliating depictions, an unfavourable emotional assessment and a negative evaluation of people on the basis of their attitude to religion. The books contain propaganda about the superiority or deficiency of citizens on the basis of their attitude to religion (believers or non-believers). They also contain statements substantiating and justifying the necessity of disseminating such ideas and world-views. The court does not have any reason to doubt these expert reports ...” The court then rejected the specialist opinions submitted by the applicants, finding that only experts in psychology, social psychology and linguistics were competent to establish the meaning of the contested texts. It held that the specialists cited by the applicants did not have such expertise. It also rejected the oral submissions by the co-president of the Council of Mufti of Russia on the grounds that he was an interested party. It continued: “In view of the above, the court concludes that the books from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Said Nursi are extremist literature. Their content aims to incite religious discord and advocate the idea of the superiority or inferiority of citizens, depending on their religion. They also advocate and justify the necessity of such actions.” 26 .     On 18 September 2007 the Moscow City Court upheld the judgment of 21 May 2007 on appeal, finding that it had been lawful, well-reasoned and justified. It stressed that the subject matter of the case was the specific editions of the books, rather than Said Nursi’s teaching as such. B.     Application no. 28621/11 ( United Religious Board of Muslims of the Krasnoyarsk Region v. Russia ) 27.     In May 2008, the applicant, a religious association, commissioned the Klass publishing house to print the book “The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter” (« Десятое Слово о воскресении из мертвых ») from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Said Nursi. 28.     The prosecutor of the Krasnoyarsk Region applied to the Zhelezhnodorozhniy District Court of Krasnoyarsk for protection of the interests of the Russian Federation, asking that the book be declared extremist material and all printed copies be confiscated. He relied on previous decisions by the Russian courts, which had declared other works from the Risale-I Nur Collection extremist, and on a report of 24   December 2008 by specialists from the Astafyev Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University. 29 .     The report of 24   December 2008 had been prepared by a panel of “specialists” consisting of a philologist, a psychologist and a doctor of philosophy in religious studies. They had made the following finding: “The book ‘The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter’ by Said Nursi submitted for expert review is ideological literature addressed to a wide audience. The gist of the book is propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion. The text under review aims to arouse feelings of aversion, anger, enmity and discord against non-believers. The book substantiates and justifies extremist activity.” That finding was based, among other things, on the fact that the book contained military metaphors which, according to the specialists, could incline the reader to see the reality through the prism of the conditions of a military camp, a military ground and potential military actions. The specialists also noted that the value of such a world-view was stressed by positive epithets. The specialist report cited the following expressions: “Listen, this state is a military ground; an exhibition of wonderful royal art;   The military camp becomes like a lavish colourful blossoming garden on the Earth’s surface. The armies of the Eternal King are plentiful, consisting of angels, jinn, people and ignorant animals and plants in a battle for the preservation of their lives. Having received God’s order: ‘Prepare your weapons and equipment for the defence!’, all thorny trees and plants on the Earth link up their little bayonets, resembling a majestic military camp ready for battle ... The One Wise and Almighty creates anew, from nothing, by a simple order ‘Be and it comes true’, and places in perfect order, wisely and in balance all parts and minute details of unit-like bodies of all animals and other living creatures who are like an army; every century, every spring He creates on the Earth’s surface hundreds of thousands of species and tribes of living creatures who are like an army. How can you doubt that He can ... He says ‘He who will resurrect you on the Resurrection Day is He for whom the entire universe is like an obedient soldier. It obeys with perfect submissiveness the order ‘Be and it comes true’. It is as easy for Him to create spring as it is to create a single flower’.” 30.     The applicant organisation was invited to participate in the proceedings as a third party. It submitted, in particular, that the opinion of 24   December 2008 had been made by specialists who had no knowledge of Islam and who had therefore incorrectly interpreted the text. 31.     The Zhelezhnodorozhniy District Court ordered an expert opinion and appointed a panel of experts consisting of two psychologists and a doctor of philosophy in religious studies from the Lomonosov Moscow State University. 32 .     On 28 April 2010 the court-appointed experts delivered their joint report, finding as follows: “The book ‘The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter’ from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, 2005 edition, is a popular exposition of the Qur’an. Its aim is to acquaint the reader with Said Nursi’s point of view. The main part of the text is devoted to lauding and glorifying God and his wisdom, as is customary for any monotheistic religious tradition. Said Nursi’s ideology, or his world-view, is quite traditional for Islam, as well as for any monotheistic religion. The author’s objective is to ‘show that the truths of Islam are reasonable, solid and interrelated’, which is a typical objective of any theologian ... The verbal means used in the book do not go beyond value judgments used in any religious literature ... Under a normal perception of the text the book does not contain anything that could have a possible incentive influence on the human consciousness, will, socio ‑ psychological characteristics or conduct. Possible aberrant perceptions of the textual material by emotionally unstable or easily suggestible people cannot be evaluated in the framework of the present review, as they would require an evaluation of the readers rather than of the text itself ... The book does not contain any statements, appeals or declarations which could be definitely interpreted as incitement of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord associated with violence or as calls to violence ... The book does not contain any ideas which could be definitely interpreted as propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion or their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation ... The book does not contain any statements which could be definitely interpreted as statements aiming to humiliate persons on the basis of their sex, race, ethnic origin, native language, origin, attitude to religion, affiliation to a social group or on any other basis ... From a scientific point of view, the book is not different from any other religious text; it does not substantiate, justify or advocate the idea that people have an exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency on the basis of their religious affiliation or attitude to religion ... Islam, like any other religion as well as atheism, is characterised by a psychologically based belief in the superiority of its world-view over all other world ‑ views, which made it necessary to substantiate the choice of that world-view ...” 33.     At the hearing the applicant organisation requested the District Court to secure the attendance and in-court examination of the Moscow State University experts to clarify several of their findings which could be considered ambiguous. The District Court rejected that request, finding that the applicant organisation had not made it at the preliminary hearing and that it was not possible to clarify an expert report by questioning the experts; it would have been necessary to order an additional expert report, which the applicant organisation had not requested. The request to question the experts had therefore been “formal, unjustified” and an attempt “to prevent the court from examining the case and deciding on the matter”. 34 .     The District Court also rejected as irrelevant a request for the examination of additional material about Said Nursi’s life and teachings. It also refused to read the text of the book, noting that the book was sufficiently quoted in the report by specialists from the Astafyev Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University. 35 .     On 21 September 2010 the Zhelezhnodorozhniy District Court of Krasnoyarsk granted the prosecutor’s application, declared the book “The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter” by Said Nursi extremist and ordered the destruction of the printed copies. After summarising the applicable domestic law and the submissions by the parties, it held as follows: “According to the specialists’ report of 24   December 2008 by the Astafyev Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University, [the specialists] read the book ‘The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter’ from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi ... Having analysed the textual content of the book, its syntax structures, the genre characteristics and the methods of structuring the text and expressions, the panel of specialists came to an unanimous finding that, as a whole, the book ‘The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter’ from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi is ideological, and at the same time religious, literature inciting religious discord and containing propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion. In particular, it incites discord between Muslims and non-believers, which term is understood to include adherents of other religions as well as those who do not belong to any religion. The gist of the book is a breach of religious equality consisting in forming in the reader a negative and aggressive attitude towards non-believers and adherents to other religions, which amounts to inciting hatred and discord against them (see [specialist report of 24   December 2008]). According to the specialists’ report mentioned above, the values inspired in the reader by the text are the exceptional nature of the Islamic faith, which is presented to the reader as the ultimate truth. People are divided into two groups: those who do not follow the Islamic faith are described by the author as ‘the dissolute’, ‘the philosophers’ and ‘the idle talkers’; and those who belong to that religion are described by the author as ‘the faithful’ and ‘the just’. It follows that believers and non-believers are rated differently on the basis of their adherence to the Islamic religion: the unfaithful are rated negatively, while the faithful to Islam are rated positively. The author uses in his text disparaging words and expressions to belittle the European culture, which is understood, in the light of the religious contents of the book, as religious confessions other than Islam. The author uses military metaphors in the text, which inevitably inclines the reader to see the reality through the prism of the conditions of a military camp, a military ground and potential military actions. The value of such a world-view is stressed by positive epithets. Simultaneously, through the use of verbal means and expressions, the author implicitly (that is covertly rather than openly, by influencing the subconscious) forms in the reader’s mind the idea of an enemy, the notion of a potential aggressor. Taken together, it creates in the reader’s mind an idea that it is necessary to be ready for a fight. The structure of the book is such that in the subsequent text the idea of the necessity to fight, of being ready for a fight, is, on the one hand, attenuated as it is not expressed directly; on the other hand, having been already stated earlier, it may be reinforced in the readers’ minds because the text inspires the idea that non-believers commit a crime consisting in the very fact of not believing and which, according to the text under review, does not merit forgiveness. Thereby the author of the book attempts to influence the reader’s psyche on a subconscious level and to influence the mechanisms of his faith, that is to form on an irrational basis conscious values and attitudes. It may deprive the reader of the capacity to think critically about changes happening in real life, may undermine his ability to make independent decisions and thereby breach the right to freedom of religion. According to the book, anyone who does not accept Islam, a non-believer, is the most inferior person who is deprived of his rights, is a criminal not deserving forgiveness. The book suggests to the reader corporate norms and a model of society where all people follow the same rules; the actions of all members of such a society are tightly regulated, they are encouraged to comply like obedient soldiers, military officers or civil servants who must unquestioningly carry out orders and commands (see [expert report of 24   December 2008]). According to the specialists’ report mentioned above (see [specialists’ report of 24   December 2008]), the book ‘The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter’ from the Risale-I Nur Collection by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi is potentially addressed to different people. On the one hand, the text is addressed to non-believers who do not have a developed ability to think critically. If the reader does not have a certain ideology of life, the text may influence him ideologically and form in his mind the ideas described above by methods of emotional induction and on the least rational level. On the other hand, the text is addressed to readers who have a religious world-view other than Islam, as it calls on them to accept the only true God – Allah. The author suggests to the reader that it is normal to change one’s world-view and that the author desires it. The text is also addressed to people who accept the Islamic religious worldview, revere Allah and are ready to carry out his will and his commandments, which follows from a reconstruction of such an addressee’s characteristics: readiness to fight for ‘eternal life’ and the constant service of Allah and his messengers in such forms as may transpire from respective orders. The text is also addressed to readers who ‘delay’ religious activity ... until an undetermined future point, which may however come at the will of someone who has the right to command and give orders. The text uses the expression ‘little man’, which may be understood as ‘the most common’ man who perceives himself as a ‘little man’. The author suggests that the essence of such a person, if he is not a follower of Islam, is an ‘infinitely big crime’. In addition, the reader is encouraged to take responsibility for his parents; to save them he must accept the advocated Islamic religious creed. It means that any person who identifies with his parents, who has the slightest feeling of existential guilt for them, may be moved to adopt the view of the world suggested by the author. To sum up, in the opinion of the panel of specialists, the psychological characteristics of the potential addressees (readers) mentioned above are not essential for understanding the text of the book because the text itself, by its specific structure and its [psychological] methods of holding attention and suggestion, is capable, after a long reading, to transmit the advocated religious ideology to any person who is in search of ideological support for his life, who is inclined to reflection and is in the process of self-development.” 36.     The court considered the findings of the report by the Astafyev Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University to be credible because they had been made by specialists with professional expertise in the spheres of social psychology, psycholinguistics, philosophy and religious studies who had used scientific methods of analysis. The specialists had confirmed their findings when questioned at the hearing. 37 .     By contrast, the court rejected the expert report of 28 April 2010 by the Lomonosov Moscow State University, prepared at its own request, as “not credible”. It held that the report of 28 April 2010 was insufficiently reasoned and was based on assumptions. In particular, the experts had not explained what they understood by “a normal perception” and “possible aberrant perceptions by emotionally unstable or easily suggestible people”. It was not clear what the experts meant when saying that “the book [did] not contain any statements which could be definitely interpreted as incitement of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord associated with violence or as calls to violence”, that “the book [did] not contain any ideas which could be definitely interpreted as propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion or their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation”, or that “the book [did] not contain any statements which could be definitely interpreted as statements aiming to humiliate persons on the basis of their sex, race, ethnic origin, native language, origin, attitude to religion, affiliation to a social group or on any other basis”. The court considered that the experts’ wording gave reason to believe that such interpretations could not be excluded, but that interpretations could in fact differ depending on the reader’s individual perceptions. The experts had not cited the statements which, in their opinion, could be subject to different interpretations and had not explained why they had come to that conclusion. The court further found that the comparison of the book with other monotheistic religious texts had been misconceived because it had not asked for a comparative study. If the book contained propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion or their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation, it was irrelevant that other religious texts also contained such statements. Lastly, the District Court noted the absence of a linguist or a philologist in the panel of experts. In the court’s view, that omission undermined the comprehensive nature of the study. 38 .     The District Court concluded that the book “The Tenth Word: The Resurrection and the Hereafter” by Said Nursi was extremist literature because it was aimed at inciting religious discord and contained propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their attitude to religion. Its contents substantiated and justified the necessity of carrying out such activity. It therefore had to be seized wherever it was found and on whatever information medium it was reproduced. 39.     On 29 November 2010 the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court rejected an appeal lodged by the applicant organisation, endorsing the reasoning of the District Court in a summary fashion. 40.     According to the Government, only the editor’s copy of the book was seized. It proved impossible to seize the other copies as they had already been distributed. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW A.     Anti-extremism legislation 1.     Suppression of Extremism Act 41 .     The Suppression of Extremism Act (Federal Law no. 114-FZ of 25   July 2002, as in force at the material time) defines “extremist activities” as, among others: (i) incitement of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord; (ii) propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of people on the basis of their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or their attitude to religion; (iii) violation of human and civil rights and freedoms, and of lawful interests in connection with a person’s social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or attitude to religion; and (iv) public appeals to commit the above-mentioned acts, or mass dissemination of material known to be extremist, as well as the production or storage of such material with the aim of mass dissemination. The Act further defines “extremist material” as documents intended for publication, or information disseminated via other media, calling for extremist activity to be carried out or substantiating or justifying the necessity of carrying out such activity (section 1). 42 .     It is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation to publish or distribute printed, audio, audiovisual or other material corresponding to at least one of the criteria mentioned in section 1 of the Act. Following an application by the prosecutor, documentary material is to be declared extremist by the federal court that has jurisdiction over the location of the organisation that published the documentary material. The judicial decision declaring documentary material extremist serves as the legal basis for seizing any undistributed copies of the issue. An organisation which has published extremist material twice within twelve months is deprived of the right to publish. A copy of the judicial decision declaring documentary material extremist which has entered into legal force is to be sent to the federal State registration authority. A federal list of extremist material will be published periodically in the media. A decision to include documentary material in the federal list of extremist material may be appealed against in court under the procedure established by Russian Federation legislation. It is prohibited to distribute in the Russian Federation material which has been included in the federal list of extremist material. Anyone guilty of producing, disseminating or storing such material with the aim of dissemination will be held liable under criminal or administrative law (section 13 of the Suppression of Extremism Act). 43.     On 23 November 2015 the Suppression of Extremism Act was amended. A new section 3.1 provided that the Bible, the Qur’an, the Tanakh and the   Kangyur, as well as their contents and quotations from them, may not be declared extremist material. 2.     Case-law of the Constitutional Court 44.     On 2 July 2013 the Constitutional Court, in its decision no. 1053-O, dismissed as inadmissible a request for a review of the constitutionality of sections 1 and 13 of the Suppression of Extremism Act – in particular, the parts of section 1 concerning incitement of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord and propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of people on the basis of their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or their attitude to religion – on the grounds of their alleged vagueness and the consequent lack of foreseeability in their application. The Constitutional Court held, in particular, that the requirement of foreseeability did not prevent the use of value or common terms the meaning of which was understandable directly from the legal provision in question, from a combination of related legal provisions or through interpretation by the courts. When applying section 1 of the Suppression of Extremism Act, the courts had to take into account that the requisite element of that form of extremism was explicit or implicit disrespect for the constitutional prohibition of incitement of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord and of propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or their attitude to religion. To establish whether there was such disrespect, the courts had to take into account all the relevant circumstances of the case, such as the form and content of the activity or information in question, its addressees, purposes,