INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A number of repressive laws have been introduced in Russia since the begining of the invasion of Ukraine, including two laws, one criminal
and one administrative, that essentially criminalize independent reporting on the war and virtually any protests against it.Amendments to
Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code to "protect the Armed Forces" took effect March 4
Since then, according to OVD-Info, the article has been applied against 556 people.Many of these cases appear absurd
At the end of March an activist was detained in Moscow for a poster with eight asterisks
seemingly harmless things.Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova conducted research using open data in social networks and the media to
determine which actions have been most often prosecuted under the new law
She found that people are detained most often for attending rallies or pickets, including one-person protests.The second top violation is
statements on social networks
Comments, posts and reposts are all considered violations of the law, and more than a hundred people have been charged
In third place is graffiti
Slogans on walls in public places are especially numerous in large cities with an educated and young population, Arkhipova said."It is worth
this data base," she added
In fact, "two dozen more people convicted of vandalism" can be safely added to this statistic
The latest striking example of such enforcement is the prosecution of documentary filmmaker Sergei Yerzhenkov for inscribing "Putin, go
away!" on a monument to Lenin.Arkhipova has concluded that graffiti may be a more successful means of voicing one's opinion
"I get hundreds of graffiti all over the country [as part of another study], that's not even counting just the 'No to War' slogan and a lot
of unique drawings," she says.Arkhipova said that the new amendments have a lot in common with Article 58-10 of Stalin's Criminal Code, "On
There are real cases of denunciation," Arkhipova said.Lawyer Anastasia Burakova agrees with her
"This article of the legal is, of course, made of rubber that can be stretched to cover anything
But since all these statements against the war are not a crime, the article is clearly anti-constitutional
Everyone has the right to freedom of speech and his own opinion," she said.Art performances can also fall under the code, for example,
just reads the Russian word for peace."There are also counter-messages, which is when a message about the war is embedded in some neutral or
official message," Arkhipova said
the case of repeated violations
Lawyers said that it can lead to a felony charge
But as Burakova explains, it is difficult to give legal advice in such situations, since it is practically impossible to protect yourself if
you want to express an anti-war stance."As we can see, even a personal telephone conversation is considered public communication," she
said.According to OVD-info, the largest number of detainees, as expected, in Moscow
Courts in the capital have heard 112 cases
Krasnodar (34).Human rights activists link this to the fact that in these regions the new article was used along with the "usual" Article
Article 20.3.3 for the content of the poster or the subject of the action, and another for participation under Part 5 Article 20.2,
including for disobedience to police," Alexander Lokhmutov, a lawyer at OVD-Info, said.But, Lokhmutov explained, this violates the principle
that no one can be prosecuted twice for the same offense.
