The Court of Appeal overturned the Saratov District Court’s decision based on the blocking of the Tor Project’s main website. Reported by Roskomsvoboda.

As attorney Ekaterina Abashina told ForkLog, the basis for the annulment was procedural violations. Specifically, the trial court did not involve The Tor Project Inc.

Despite the decision, the case was sent to retrial with the participation of the site owner.

In a conversation with ForkLog, a Roskomsvoboda lawyer stated that the prosecutor wanted to restrict access to the site because of “the information users have gained access to download the anonymizing browser program.”

“We insist that the distribution of such information is not directly or indirectly prohibited or restricted by the legislation of the Russian Federation, neither administrative nor criminal liability has been established for the dissemination of such information, therefore there is no legal justification for the restriction,” Abashina said. I said.

Recall that in December last year, experts noted that access to the Tor network was blocked on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The Tor Network is run by Tor Project Inc. He reported that he received a letter from Roskomnadzor threatening to restrict access due to prohibited information on the territory of the Russian Federation. The official basis was the decision of the Saratov District Court of 2017.

Roskomsvoboda, Tor Project Inc. He objected to the ban on his behalf.