Paul Goble
Staunton, Oct. 22 – Russia’s justice ministry has announced that it will be posting a list of Russian citizens now living abroad and thus are evading sentences imposed by Russian courts, analogous to the foreign agents list already maintained by the Russian government but one that appears to be even more threatening to those put on it.
Deputy Justice Minister Oleg Sviridenko says those put on this new list will be subject to “the blocking of accounts and property in Russia, the banning of registration of real estate and cars, obtaining loans, using remote banking services, as well as registering IPs and self-employment” (tass.ru/obschestvo/28240571 and ru.thebarentsobserver.com/novosti/minust-rf-sozdast-publicnyj-reestr-rossian-skryvausihsa-ot-nakazania-za-granicej/460262).
Moreover, the deputy minister says that these restrictions will go into effect the moment an individual is put on the list, something that the justice ministry will decide upon on recommendation from the interior ministry, the FSB, the federal bailiffs service, of the Procuracy General.
According to Sviridenko, there is a way for those put on the list to get off it. “If the perpetrator is ready to return, admit mistakes and suffer well-deserved punishment, he has the right to restore his rights but if he hides abroad and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions, the restrictions will remain in place.”
Rights activists say that this is yet another measure intended not only to put those who may fall in this category on notice but to intimidate others, both those who have left Russia and those who may be thinking about it because the Russian government can always convict people in absentia and then argue that “the convict” has fled Russia to avoid punishment.
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