In St. Petersburg, a ruling from the Primorsky District Court restricted the citation in Russia of a remark by Jean-Paul Sartre about anti-communists. Local newspapers, including Kommersant, reported the decision.
The court’s final session took place on March 28 to address a restraining request filed by the city prosecutor’s office. The proceedings spanned roughly ten months from start to finish.
At the outset, the case listed 42 defendants. By the final session, the number had been pared down to six, with several sites identified as respondents. The reduction came as many platforms either removed the quote or were blocked by Roskomnadzor for various reasons.
Jean-Paul Charles Aimard Sartre was born on June 21, 1905, in Paris. Sartre was a French philosopher and a leading voice in atheistic existentialism, as well as a prolific writer, playwright, essayist, and teacher. In 1964 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for a body of work celebrated for its spirit of freedom and truth-seeking ideas that resonated across his era. Sartre declined the prize, concerned that acceptance might appear to align him with political currents he did not fully support.