MOSCOW, January 23 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has upheld the ruling of the Basmanny District Court which declared Joseph Goebbels' book "Michael" extremist, according to Moscow's prosecutor's office's statement.

In September, the investigators initiated a probe after reports of Goebbels' novel being sold in several Moscow bookstores, along with Benito Mussolini's book "The Third Way". Both books were published and distributed to the stores by the Algoritm publishing house. A criminal case on the grounds of inciting hatred was opened.

On October 23, the novel was declared extremist by Moscow's Basmanny District Court.

"Michael" was written as a diary and published in 1929. The book is both autobiographical and a tribute to Goebbels' friend, Richard Flisges who had actually fought in World War I.

In early October, Mussolini's book was also declared extremist. The Federal law on combating extremism already recognizes the works of Italian Fascist leaders, including Mussolini, as extremist without the need for additional linguistic evaluation.

In December 2012, a Moscow court added Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg's books, "Myth of the Twentieth Century" and "Memoirs," as well as Viktor Pranov's book, "Survival Law of the Foulest" to the list of extremist literature banned from publication and sale. Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf has also been banned as extremist in Russia.