Prosecutors, Citing CIA Hoax, Pursue NGO for Extremism
By Natalya Krainova
The St. Petersburg Times
MOSCOW — Novorossiisk prosecutors have embraced a fictitious CIA document to justify their case to close a small human rights group on extremism charges. Prosecutors have asked a Novorossiisk court to outlaw the Committee for Human Rights as extremist because one of its supporters held up a poster reading “Freedom isn’t granted, it’s taken” at an April 4 rally, the group’s deputy head, Vadim Karastelyov, told The St. Petersburg Times. The slogan was deemed as extremist by two linguistic experts, a historian and a child psychologist, who are cited in the prosecutors’ lawsuit, a copy of which is posted on the rights group’s web site, Komitet23.org. The historian, Vladimir Rybnikov, identified as an associate professor at the Gelendzhik branch of Kuban State University, wrote in his findings that Karastelyov was “serving the interests of those who want to shatter the socio-political order of modern Russia.” Rybnikov explained that the slogan was in line with the Dulles Plan, the central document of a conspiracy theory under which CIA chief Allen Dulles wanted to destroy the Soviet Union by secretly corrupting its cultural heritage and moral values. But the text of the plan, which has been cited by prominent Russians like Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Nikita Mikalkov, is widely believed to have originated in the 1971 novel “The Eternal Call” by Anatoly Ivanov, and it was first attributed to Dulles in 1993 by a Russian Orthodox leader. The other Novorossiisk expert, Svetlana Guzeva, who heads the Dialogue Center, a municipal body providing psychological, educational and medical support for children, said in her findings that the slogan “can be understood” by teenagers to be “an invitation to actively oppose the activities of state bodies.” The April 4 rally where the slogan was used sought to call attention to the illegality of a Krasnodar region law introducing a curfew for minors, Karastelyov said by telephone Friday. The law was illegal for nine months, until a necessary federal law was passed in May, he said. His group, which is comprised of just two members, Karastelyov and his wife, was registered by local authorities in 2001. A spokeswoman for the Novorossiisk prosecutor’s office referred requests for comment to the regional prosecutor’s office. A spokesman for that office refused to comment, saying the case was ongoing. An inquiry submitted by fax to the Oktyabrsky District Court, where the lawsuit was filed, went unanswered Friday. A preliminary hearing will be held Sept. 17, Karastelyov said. filing the lawsuit, prosecutors sent three warnings to the group in May, accusing it of provoking minors to anti-social behavior, a phrase used by prosecutors to describe extremist activity, Karastelyov said. The warnings have not come into force because the group is appealing them in court, he said. Rybnikov’s findings were dated May 29. On Friday, a spokeswoman at the Gelendzhik branch of Kuban State University said Rybnikov no longer worked there. Rybnikov did not reply to an e-mailed request for comment. Guzeva didn’t reply to a request for comment left with a spokeswoman at her office. Court rulings on what constitute extremist materials came under fire after they were compiled into a vague and controversial list by the Justice Ministry last month.
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