The Tushinsky District Court of Moscow arrested local resident Natalya Minenkova on charges of organizing the work of the Falun Gong movement, recognized in Russia as “undesirable” (Part 3 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the press service of the court.
The woman’s arrest became known the day before, on May 3. According to the security forces, Minenkova, together with like-minded people, distributed Falun Gong books, including Zhuan Falun, recognized in Russia as extremist, written by the founder of the movement, Li Hongzhi.
The Falun Gong movement became popular in China in the 2000s . It is based on spiritual practices with elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, folk beliefs and Gygong gymnastics. The Chinese authorities are persecuting Falun Gong supporters.
In Russia, since the summer of 2020, seven organizations associated with the movement have been recognized as “undesirable.” The main treatise of the teaching, Zhuan Falun, was included in the register of extremist literature in 2011. Specialists from the SOVA information and analytical center found no signs of extremism in this book.
According to Mediazona’s calculations, in the first months of 2024, security forces drew up 15 protocols on “participation” in the activities of an “undesirable” organization in supporters of religious organizations “New Generation”, “Falun Gong” and “Renaissance”.
Readers began to be fined for reposting “undesirable” independents media. The most protocols are for Meduza