Moscow continues to use a 2002 anti-extremism law to protect the Kremlin and the Orthodox Church; it has even gone so far as to have the Supreme Court invent threats, Politico reports.
Russia’s Supreme Court banned the International Satanist Movement on the 23rd of July as a threat to traditional religion. It is the Kremlin’s latest move to stamp out any ideological opponents, but there is a caveat: the International Satanist Movement does not exist. The Supreme Court’s statement states that the movement has been threatening traditional religion since its inception and is based on hate and extremist ideology.
Despite its official-sounding name, such a movement does not exist. Or at least, Satanists do not gather under that name. The independent media outlet Meduza reported that the Russian Supreme Court has previously banned fictional movements, such as the International LGBT Movement, and then used the decision to persecute LGBT members and censor works of art.
The fact that the movement is a fabrication does not prevent the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office from
accusing Satanists of calling for violence against religious institutions, and of destroying, damaging and desecrating the Orthodox Church,
and of linking the movement to radical nationalism and neo-Nazism.
Russian Deputy Justice Minister Oleg Svidirenko said that the ban on the movement was a coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to protect the interests of the state and strengthen public security.
The Russian Orthodox Church and conservative lawmakers have called for a ban on Satanic ideology for years. In April, the lower house of the Russian parliament held a roundtable discussion on the fight against Satanism and other ideologies that threaten the Russian state.
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