Russians Can Read ‘Nine Commentaries,’ Says Court

The Russian people have a right to read the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” ruled a court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Following a six-month trial, the court struck down a prosecutor’s motion to consider the book “extremist literature.”

Russian citizen Andrey Tolmachev was among those who felt the consequences of the authorities’ previous rulings on the “Nine Commentaries.” In June 2009, upon returning home to Yekaterinburg from abroad, he was detained and held in custody for over 24 hours. He was accused of carrying “extremist materials,” in particular, “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.”

Tolmachev was detained on the eve of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRIC, a forum for Brazil, Russia, India and China to meet on trade issues, shortly before the Chinese delegation, led by CCP leader Hu Jintao, was expected to arrive.

“During my detention, I was told that my arrest and the confiscation of ['Nine Commentaries’ was] connected to the upcoming summit,” said Tolmachev.

Nine Commentaries is an award-winning Epoch Times series that sets forth in detail, for the first time, the true nature and history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The book has fueled a quiet but steady and massive withdrawal by Chinese citizens from the CCP and its related organizations.

Others confirm the point that the initial ban of the book resulted from pressure by the CCP on Russian authorities.

“I do not know whether we are going to become one of the Chinese provinces, or maybe, we wish to become the respected ally of the People’s Republic of China,” Lyudmila Alekseeva, human rights activist and the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group.

“Once, we already tried to become an ally of the Third Reich,” Alekseeva said. “And we know that it led to a four-year war in which we had lost millions of our citizens. With China, it will be more complex.”

Alekseeva is appalled by what she sees as “the [Russian government’s] servile attitude to the Chinese leadership.”

“Just imagine if customs officers found a book in which—not the Communist party of China was being criticized but, for example, the Democratic or Republican Party of the United States, or the president of the United States [was being criticized]. In no way would they touch such a person, let alone start an investigation,” Alekseeva said.

Alexey Simonov, Russian film director, journalist, and legal expert, said, “Over the last 10 years, in Russia, no one would have possibly come up with the idea that this book [“The Nine Commentaries”] might be considered as an extremist one.”

“It is only possible if you are reading the book with Chinese eyes,” he said. “Fawning before China is a general tendency.”

Alexander Verhovsky, journalist and director of SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, commented on the “growing illegal application of the anti-extremist legislation in Russia.” He said that actions such as the overturned ban of “Nine Commentaries” result from foreign policy considerations.

“Whatever you could think about the communist party of China, the criticism of its crimes can in no way be considered an illegal act on the Russian territory,” he emphasized.

UPDATE: Since the time of writing, the prosecutor in this case has re-filed it to a higher court, rendering the outcome once again in question.