Newly Proposed Russian Laws Increase Punishments for Separatism But Soften Them for Talk about it, Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 8 – In the first move to bring Russian laws into line with the constitutional amendments approved a week ago, the Duma is considering legislation that will increase criminal penalties for those who act to promote separatism but soften them somewhat in the case of those who merely express opinions about it.

            The first vote on these measures will take place next week, but it is still unclear exactly what form they will take. Nonetheless, most experts on human rights suggest that the laws will increase the number of prosecutors for “separatism” especially concerning actions or talk about the status of occupied Crimea (vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2020/07/08/834220-gosduma-uzhestochit).

            Existing Russian law criminal and administrative allows for prosecutions in this area, although they have been relatively rare. What the new laws will do is add separatism to the list of actions and statements about the sovereignty of the country that are already subject to punishment (ovdinfo.org/articles/2020/07/08/statyu-o-separatizme-hotyat-chastichno-dekriminalizovat-no-pri-etom-vvesti).

            It that is all they do, little will change; but many activists fear that by emphasizing the importance of borders, investigators and prosecutors will be encouraged to open more cases in this area, especially since border issues are so sensitive in Russia that anyone accused of challenging them cannot expect widespread sympathy.

            Those who merely question the existing borders as in the case of Crimea but take no action presumably would be able to escape criminal sanctions, but they would be subject to new administrative fines that would be punitive and incarceration in the case of repeated statements within a single year.

            As a result of that, the softening that some news outlets have spoken about concerning Internet posts or discussions is likely to be more apparent than real. 

            Agora’s Kirill Koroteyev points out that over the last five years, only 17 people have been prosecuted on this issue under the anti-extremism laws, with all but one of them for comments about occupied Crimea (mk.ru/politics/2020/07/08/realizaciyu-popravok-v-konstituciyu-nachnut-s-ekstremizma-za-chto-posadyat.html).

            The new measures, once passed, he says, will mean that people that the regime wants to prosecute regarding border issues will be charged under the new law rather than under the older anti-extremism statutes. That is likely to spark even more cases, but there are many questions about the measure for which there are no clear answers yet.