MOSCOW, April 11 (RAPSI) – The Lyublinsky District Court of Moscow on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by opposition stalwart Alexei Navalny challenging the blocking of his LiveJournal blog, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office earlier ordered telecommunications agency Roskomnadzor to blacklist Navalny’s blog, which contained calls for unapproved mass protests.
In February, Navalny participated in an unauthorized protest following the sentencing of several activists for their participation in riots that swept central Moscow in May 2012.
He was accused of having participated in an unsanctioned protest, inciting chaos, and resisting arrest.
On February 1, Russia's communication watchdog Roskomnadzor started blocking websites containing prohibited information without a prior court ruling. The decision to blacklist the website may be taken by the watchdog at the request of the Prosecutor General or his deputies, according to recently passed amendments aimed at toughening the consequences for the crimes of extremism and inciting hatred or enmity.
More than 14,000 online resources were blacklisted in 2013 following the activation of Roskomnadzor's website blacklist.
