StopXam (organization)
StopXam (), also spelled StopHam and known as Stop a Douchebag, is a Russian non-profit organization, headquartered in Moscow and founded in 2010 by members of the youth movement Nashi, which opposes traffic rule violations and arrogance on the road. The mode of operation of the activists is to film offenses and their conversations and confrontations with offenders and subsequently edit and upload the gathered footage to video-sharing websites such as YouTube. One of the popular strategies is to place big stickers with the phrase "I don't care about anyone, I park where I want" (), attributed  to the 'Federal Programme Against Arrogance on Roads', on car windshields of non-cooperative traffic offenders. A more direct translation of the phrase would be "I spit on everyone, I park where I want" The name of the organization derives from the Russian slang term хам ("kham"), referring to a boor or lout but more abusive; a person who behaves in a crude disgusting way without respect for him/herself or others; the closest English term would be "scumbag". The term is a reference to the Biblical Ham. A number of incidents involving activists of the movement have garnered significant  public attention. On 21 March 2016, by the Moscow City Court's decision the organization was liquidated. However, on 2 September 2016, the Supreme Court of Russia cancelled the decision. History. The project was founded in 2010 as one of the federal programs of the Nashi youth movement that existed in the NASHI-2.0 project, under the leadership of movement commissar Dmitry Chugunov. In July of the same year, the project was first presented at the Seliger forum and verbally approved by Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev. The main goal of the public movement is the fight against traffic  violations and neglect of others by its participants: parking in the wrong place, seizing urban land for parking lots, using sidewalks to travel by car, etc. Activists are looking for improperly parked cars that interfere with others, and, if there is a driver in the car, they turn to him with a request to park the car in accordance with traffic rules. In case of refusal or in the absence of a driver, a round sticker with the text "I don't care about anyone, I can park wherever I want" is put onto the windshield of the car on  either the passenger's or driver’s side, and occasionally on the side or rear windows. The process, which is often accompanied by insults from drivers and attempts to fight with the activists demanding to stop the offense, is filmed on video media (telephones, cameras), after which the project activists compile videos and upload them to the Internet: on YouTube, VKontakte and on the official website of the movement. On May 31, 2014, the project manager of StopHam, the commander of the Nashi movement Dmitry Chugunov, in the direction of developing public control, was elected a member of the Civic  Chamber of the Russian Federation of the 5th composition, having received 21,883 votes in Internet voting. Subsequently, the project management was temporarily assigned to his supporter Kirill Bunin, but later on Chugunov returned to the post of direct supervisor. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly evaluated the actions of StopHam activists. According to this assessment, the actions of the StopHam activists can be regarded as a violation of applicable law and fall under the responsibility stipulated by the articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation: 7.17 (destruction or property damage) 19.1 (arbitrariness) 20.1 (hooliganism ) The Minister of Internal Affairs of Karelia Vasily Kukushkin also notes that activists film their actions and post reports on the Internet without the consent of car owners, which "may carry signs of a crime under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of privacy ”. Liquidation of a legal entity. The StopHam civil society organization promoting cultural cooperation in civil society was liquidated on March 21, 2016 by a decision of the Moscow City Court at the request of the Ministry of Justice. During federal state control, the State Department revealed repeated gross violations of the  law in terms of reporting in the organization’s activities, after which in 2015 it applied to the Moscow City Court with a statement on the liquidation of the organization and the deletion of information about it from the Register of Legal Entities. On October 12, 2015, the court granted the claims of the State Institution. The decision was not appealed. In this regard, in the manner prescribed by applicable law, information about the organization 03/21/2016 was excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. On October 12, 2015, the court granted the claims of the State Institution. Cancellation  of liquidation by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. On September 2, 2016, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation cancelled the liquidation of StopXam, having satisfied the appeal of representatives of the Law & Wise Law Firm, who insisted that they were not notified of the court session at which the Justice Ministry’s lawsuit on the liquidation was examined. A month later, the Ministry of Justice refused the requirement to liquidate the movement, as the defendant eliminated the violations. Financing. In 2013, under the presidential grants, StopHam received 4 million rubles for its activities. In 2014 , under the presidential grants, StopHam received 6 million rubles for its activities. Reception. In 2013, Vladimir Putin said to volunteers of the organisation: