MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. The office of the Prosecutor General has filed a request to the Russian Supreme Court to suspend the ban on the Taliban movement in Russia, the court’s press service told TASS.

"Russia’s Supreme Court has received and initiated proceedings on an administrative legal claim by the Russian prosecutor general on suspending the ban on activities by the Taliban movement included in the unified federal list of organizations, including foreign and international ones, recognized as terrorist in accordance with Russian legislation," the press service said.

The administrative case is set to be heard in court on April 17 behind closed doors.

At the end of December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the temporary suspension of a ban on the activities of an organization included in the unified list of terrorist organizations. As Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee and leader of the LDPR, explained earlier, the new rules were aimed, among other things, at ensuring Russia’s legal interaction with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban movement (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia). According to the law signed by the Russian president, the ban on the activities of such an organization may be suspended by a court decision based on a request by the prosecutor general or his deputy. The suspension is possible if there is validated evidence that the organization, following its inclusion in the list of terrorist organizations, has ceased carrying out activities aimed at propaganda, justification, and support of terrorism, or committing other crimes. A copy of the court’s ruling to suspend the prohibition of activities must be sent to the Federal Security Service (FSB) within five days after coming into force in order to amend the list of terrorist organizations.

On October 4, 2024, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov stated that the fundamental decision of excluding the Taliban movement from the list of terrorist organizations had been made at the highest level but certain legal procedures still remain to be followed. Earlier, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov asserted that Moscow sees the movement’s readiness to fight Wilayat Khorasan, the most dangerous wing of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia). On October 7, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov confirmed to TASS that in the future, the Taliban movement may be excluded from the list of banned organizations.