Resident of Kabardino-Balkaria accused of promoting extremism because of his video in messenger

Investigators considered a frame posted in a family chat showing tattoos with the symbols of an extremist organization as a reason to accuse Ruslan Bittuev, a resident of the Baksansky District, of repeated propaganda of extremism. The man said he posted the images “out of emotion” in connection with his brother’s death.

The reason for institution of the criminal case was a video with family photos on WhatsApp*, where the accused has visible tattoos in the form of a symbol of the criminal movement “Prisoner Criminal Unity”**, banned in Russia, the “Kavkaz.Realii”*** reports.

“The video does not carry any meaning other than the memory of his deceased cousin, and there is no talk of any propaganda. The symbols on his body were made out of youth and stupidity, and he is going to get rid of them in the nearest future,” reports the official website of the Supreme Court (SC) of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Ruslan Bittuev has noted that he is a person with disability and needs medical treatment. The court upheld the decision to place him under house arrest.

The “Caucasian Knot” has also reported that Azamat Kardanov, a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, is accused of creating in a SIZO (pre-trial prison) a cell of the extremist organization “Prisoner Criminal Unity”**.

*On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.

**The organization is recognized as extremist, and its activities in the Russian Federation are banned by the court’s decision.

***Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.