Russian State Duma

The law delivers the authority to suspend activities of any public or religious organization to the executive power. Without applying to court prior to the decision. That is, if an official comes to consider an institution as an extremist organization, he is empowered to stop its operations. It is uncertain whether legal proceedings will ever start, or when they will start eventually, but the “extremist” organization is already paralyzed – bank accounts blocked, seal withdrawn, contracts suspended, and so on. The Constitutional freedom of associations is passed over to public servants to manipulate. Knowing the corrupted practices, employed by Russian officialdom, the right meaning of the word “manipulation” is obvious.

Another novelty. Court is also enabled to liquidate organizations, which provide financial means, property and printing facilities for implementation of extremist activities. In practice, the prerequisite may spawn the following results. Should some official, authorized to effect the sanctions, make just a hint on alleged complicity of a certain organization in extremist activities, lessors will at once turn it out of the house, publishers will refuse to deal with its materials, partners will break off cooperation, sponsors will fail to finance its projects… Who’s got the courage to risk its official registration for dubious connections? Moreover, this very norm of the law, actually, prescribes to watch the operations of one’s partners, even if the collaboration is restricted to the material side only – for example, lease of premises or performance of order in the printing-house. What freedom for informers and censorship!

Certainly, the law did not omit the press. Even the least controllable kinds of media – the Internet-based editions – were taken in leash. Following the adoption of the draft, providers are to immediately eliminate a website, suspected of having the extremist nature. One might imagine the major mess and muddle, which are sure to arise, when everyone will start looking for the signs of extremism in his neighbors, voiding contracts and liabilities, canceling relations and shrinking back from one’s own shadow. Otherwise, our court – the most humane and just in the world – may shut down each and any one, reported to have been friendly to a secret extremist.

As part of the project, the Criminal Code will add a new Article 282-A, christened “Organization of extremist community”. The punishment, stipulated by the add-on, varies from fine up to 500 minimum wages to imprisonment of two to four years behind the bars. Just being affiliated to such community entails the fine or up to two years in jail upon the person in the dock. If the defendant is guilty of power abuse in addition to the vile connection, he might be incarcerated for maximum 6 years.

It’s noteworthy that all the activities, construed in the draft as extremist, have already been described in the Criminal Code – including usurpation of power, terrorism, instigation of nationalist confrontation, and other crimes. The law, passed in the first reading, contains nothing new. But for one thing – facilitated procedure of reprisals against public or religious organizations.

The law on counteraction to terrorism is being pushed on in the wake of the increased unrest of the population about the growth of extremist movement in Russia. It results in the escapades of skinheads, neo-Nazis and nationalists, yielding incidents like the one at the Kiev – Moscow highway or beatings of colored people in the streets. Was it not strange that police absolutely tolerated the offences? Was it not the government’s cunning design: scaring the society to such extent that it would gladly agree with any law, capable of curbing extremism by any means – and giving the authorities cart blanche for short work of undesired public and religious institutions, too?