The media is portraying this recent judicial action as the banning of a fictitious, imaginary, and non-existent group.
Russia’s highest court has declared the “international satanism movement” an extremist and terrorist group, despite the organization not actually existing. Members of this non-existent group could face up to eight years in prison.
Senior MP Andrei Kartapolov, who heads the Russian parliament’s defense committee, made unverified claims that Western funding was fueling satanism in Russia, posing a “direct threat to Russian statehood.” This ruling by the Kremlin’s Supreme Court on the imaginary movement is the latest in President Vladimir Putin’s series of crackdowns on ideological dissent in Russia.
It follows his characterization of the war in Ukraine as a holy battle against the “satanic” West.
The Prosecutor General’s Office issued a statement describing the non-existent “satanist” group as one “based on extremist ideology, hatred and hostility toward traditional religious confessions.” The fictitious movement was also accused of causing “destruction, damage and desecration” of Russian Orthodox churches.
It would be wise for President Trump to issue an executive order doing the same. I just wonder how long it will take before the media starts shrieking about the banning of this non-existent group being anti-semitic?
Most people don’t realize that China already did this starting back in 2010, although it’s usually just portrayed as a campaign against “Western values”.