6 SAVVA TERENTYEV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 26. Lastly, the court considered that “the crime committed by [the applicant was] particularly blatant and dangerous for national security [as] it [ran] against the fundamentals of the constitutional system and State security”, with the result that a sentence involving the deprivation of liberty should be imposed on the applicant. Given the applicant’s positive references at the place of residence and work and the absence of a criminal record, the court considered it appropriate to give the applicant a suspended sentence of one year’s imprisonment. (c) Appeal proceedings 27. The applicant appealed against the conviction. He pleaded, in particular, that the trial court had deliberately extended the scope of the term “social group” to encompass police officers and that it had not been shown that his statement had, indeed, posed a danger to society. 28. On 19 August 2008 the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic rejected the applicant’s appeal and endorsed the Town Court’s conclusions. It also found that the experts had acted within the scope of their competence, and that the applicant’s allegation of a loose interpretation of the term “social group” had not affected the objectivity of the first-instance court’s findings. The appellate court added that the applicant’s statement had not been concerned with any criticism of the law-enforcement bodies but had publicly called for violence against police officers. II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A. Constitution of Russia 29. Article 29 of the Constitution of Russia states as follows: “1. Freedom of thought and speech shall be guaranteed to everyone. 2. Propaganda or agitation inciting social, racial, national or religious hatred and enmity shall not be allowed. Propaganda of social, racial, national, religious or linguistic supremacy shall be prohibited. 3. Nobody can be forced to express [her or his] views and convictions or to renounce them. 4. Everyone shall have the right freely to seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information by any lawful means. The list of [items of] information which constitute State secrets shall be established by a federal law. 5. Freedom of mass communication shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited.”