Court finds Pussy Riot videos to be extremist
The Moscow Zamoskvoretsky District Court has found the videos of Pussy Riot's "performances" to be extremist.
The court ruling grants the prosecutor's request, an Interfax correspondent has reported.
The court also ruled that user access to the sites containing these videos, including the website pussyriot.com and the Pussy Riot blog at livejournal.com, will be restricted.
The court ruling can be contested with a higher court.
However, the party authorized to contest the decision has not been determined yet as the court earlier declined to recognize Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich as an interested party.
Justice Marina Musimovich said in her decision, citing a study conducted by experts from the Institute of Culturology at the request of the Interior Ministry's Main Department for Moscow, that "the video materials in question contain evidence of extremism, specifically, statements and actions belittling various social groups based on religious affiliation. There are hidden calls for a riot and resistance of the authorities, and also the organization of mass unrest."
The prosecutor asked the court to recognize the videos as extremist and restrict user access to them. The prosecutor reiterated that the presence of these videos in open access may fan hatred and ethnic and religious feud and lead to encroachments on citizens' rights.
Roskomnadzor has not commented on this information yet. "We can only say something after we get an official court decision. We can't comment on anything based on news reports," Roskomnadzor told Interfax.