Forum 18 reported this week:
At least 159 prosecutions of individuals and communities for violating Russia's "anti-missionary" restrictions under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Parts 3, 4 and 5 are known to have reached court in the calendar year 2018.
This marks a decrease in the overall number of such prosecutions compared with the first year of the legislation's implementation (2016-17), which appears to be primarily explained by the sharp drop in the number of cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, whose activities were outlawed as "extremist" by Russia's Supreme Court in 2017.
Forum 18 found 159 cases against 56 organisations and 103 individuals which reached court in 2018. Of these, 132 resulted in conviction, with 129 fines being imposed. 2018 saw a conviction rate of 90 per cent, compared with 82 per cent in 2016-17.
Here is a detailed list of the prosecutions.
