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A prominent group of Russian lawyers on Tuesday asked the country’s highest court to declare unconstitutional a law banning criticism of the armed forces, in a rare display of opposition to draconian censorship imposed by the Kremlin after the invasion of Ukraine.
The complaint, filed by three lawyers and supported by 10 others, most of whom are still in Russia, asked the Constitutional Court to strike down the measure, which has emerged as the Kremlin’s most effective tool for stifling dissent in the country.
“This law was passed with only one goal – to suppress antiwar activism,” said Violetta Fitsner, a lawyer with OVD-Info, a Russian rights group, and one of the authors of the complaint. “Such restrictions cannot exist in a democratic society.”
Censorship laws effectively ban anything that doesn’t fit the Kremlin’s depiction of the war, which it continues to call a “special military operation.” He almost created a debate in Russia.
Since the invasion, thousands of activists, journalists and other professionals have left the country. Many others were arrested, including lawyers, but despite the risks, some stayed and continued to work.
Other measures have broadened the definition of treason, giving authorities more freedom to use the charges arbitrarily. Last week, the Russian Parliament also approved a law introducing life sentences for treason.
Russian lawmakers have also criminalized the offense of undisclosed “secret cooperation” with representatives of foreign countries or organizations that undermine national security.
More than 6,500 Russians have been sentenced for “discrediting” the Russian Army since the law was passed by the Russian Parliament eight days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, lawyers said. A person found breaking the law will be fined for the first offense, but conviction for another offense within a year can result in up to five years in prison.
The petition to the high court came as United Nations officials in Geneva called on fighters in the Ukraine conflict to treat prisoners of war humanely. The statement was issued after an audio clip intended to encourage soldiers to participate in summary executions surfaced on social media.
The United Nations has not verified the authenticity of the claims, but the post could still “provoke or encourage the summary execution of prisoners of war or combatants,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the UN’s chief human rights spokeswoman.
The order, if issued or carried out, would amount to a war crime, he said, as would a declaration that the army would not be taken prisoner.
When it comes to Russia’s censorship laws, authorities have drawn a blurred line between what is acceptable and what can lead to administrative or criminal charges.
For example, more than 19,500 Russians have been detained at antiwar rallies since the beginning of the invasion, according to OVD Info, which tracks the arrests.
But others were fined or faced criminal charges for more personal actions, such as questioning the official account of the war in private phone conversations or discussing it on messaging apps or with friends in cafes, rights groups said.
On Monday, a court in Moscow sentenced a former police officer, Semiel Vedel, to seven years in a penal colony for questioning the official version of the war on a private phone call with his colleagues, according to Media Zone, a Russian news website. Authorities said they tapped the phone to find information about other criminal cases.
Earlier this month, another court in Moscow sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, to 25 years in a high-security penal colony after convicting him of betraying his criticism of the invasion.
In December, opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after being convicted of “spreading false information” about atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha in February and March.
And last month, in what some saw as a signal of a tougher crackdown, authorities detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich over what they said was espionage. The Journal said the allegations were baseless, and the United States characterized Mr. Gershkovich as wrongfully detained.
The complaint filed Tuesday was made against more than 20 Russians who were fined for criticizing the invasion. One of them, Maksim Filippov, was fined $650 for holding up a poster in central Moscow that said “Give peace a chance.”
Lawyers have exhausted all other legal avenues to have the law set aside, and hope that the filing will at least draw attention to the issue. In their complaint, they argued that the law violated their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly and also discriminated against critics of the war.
The court must respond to the submission. The verdict usually takes several months.
The lawyers said they also plan to file similar complaints about other measures taken by the Kremlin after the invasion, including the criminalization of spreading what the law considers “false information” about the conflict.
“I want those who have been accused of anti-war positions in Russia to know that they are not alone, and we are ready to fight for their rights, despite all the repression and intimidation of the state,” said Ms. Fitzner, OVD. – Lawyer info.
Grigory Vaypan, a Russian lawyer who also worked on the complaint to the Constitutional Court, said the law passed by the Russian government since the invasion has “criminalized dissent as such.”
“This is the reincarnation of the worst Soviet law that we learn in history books and law school,” Mr. Vaypan said. “I can’t imagine that in just ten years it will be a reality again.”
This reporting was contributed by Farnaz Fassihi, Gulsin Harman and Nick Cumming-Bruce.
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