Russian Police Can Confiscate Phones Without a Criminal Prosecution

Пленум Верховного Суда Российской Федерации 14 июня 2018 года рассмотрел вопросы повестки дня и принял Постановление «О некоторых вопросах, связанных с применением конфискации имущества в уголовном судопроизводстве» (Проект постановления обсуждался на заседании Пленума 29 мая 2018 года).

Police can confiscate cell phones from social media users who have posted content they deem extremist, even without a criminal prosecution, according to a ruling from Russia’s top court. Russian authorities have increasingly targeted ordinary Russians for social media activity, including handing out jail sentences for posting images and comments critical of the country’s leadership. A ruling from the Russian Supreme Court allows the confiscation of “any property” belonging to an extremist suspect that prosecutors say was used to commit the crime. “This property may include cellphones, personal computers, other electronic means of communication,” the June 14 resolution reads on the court’s website.

For perspective, Russia considers a wide range of political and religious dissent as “extremist” views. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious denomination with its world headquarters in New York, was classified last year as “extremist organization”, putting the group into the same category as the likes of the Islamic State (ISIS).

According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “extremism” is defined vaguely in Russian law. This gives authorities wide latitude to interfere in certain religious activities and restrict believers' activities outside of churches. While many of these laws have existed for decades, the government “has only recently begun to wield them in sustained campaigns designed to punish or exclude ‘non-traditional’ reli­gions and religious movements.”
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The Russian Court's ruling is not particularly unique to Russia. In the United States, civil asset forfeiture laws have enabled American police to seize the property of individuals suspected of criminal activity, even if that person is never actually convicted of any crime.