Vulnerable souls of officials

Publishing on August 31 in his newspaper “Saratov Reporter” a collage in which President Putin and Saratov City Duma deputy Mikhail Isaev are dressed in SS uniforms, the editor-in-chief of this newspaper Sergei Mikhailov did not take into account that “United Russia” has vulnerable souls, cold hearts and long arms .

The head of the control and audit commission of the Saratov branch of United Russia, Alexander Lando ( pictured ), appealed to the prosecutor of the Saratov region with a request to initiate a criminal case under Art. 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - “insulting a representative of the authorities.” The tender soul of the party official could not bear the outrage of unruly journalists against his informal leader. They drew the president himself, and in the form of SS Standartenführer Stirlitz from the popular Soviet TV series “17 Moments of Spring”! Moreover, there is a signature under the collage: “Only a man named Isaev could take the initiative to extend the powers of the best Stirlitz of all times and peoples as President of Russia.” Mr. Lando made a mistake, he simply made a mistake - in today’s times this amounts not to an insult, but to extremism!

Once upon a time, under Article 58-8 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, they gave up to 10 years for terrorism for drawing horns or scratching out eyes on Stalin’s portrait. And do “United Russia” people love Vladimir Vladimirovich less than the entire Soviet people loved Joseph Vissarionovich?

Of course, in a normal state governed by the rule of law, anyone offended can sue the offender and further deal with him in a civil court. But, firstly, it is boring and does not promise serious punishment. Secondly, it is somehow undignified - a servant of the government and an ordinary citizen, and on equal terms, in open court and adversarial proceedings. It’s different when the Criminal Code stands behind the offended official’s back, and the offender himself sits in the dock in an iron cage!

In the Oryol region, the same issues are resolved more harshly than in the Saratov region. On August 4, the trial of 71-year-old pensioner Pyotr Gagarin, who insulted the governor of the Oryol region Yegor Stroev in January of this year at a rally against rising prices for housing and communal services, began there. Gagarin is accused not only of insulting a civil servant, but also of extremism. Because offending an official, according to the prosecutor’s office, is the same as undermining the foundations of state power.

Perhaps both Pyotr Gagarin and the Saratov Reporter insulted the officials. But why don’t officials sue them in civil court, but instead incite the prosecutor’s office against them? But because the Criminal Code provides for liability for “Insulting a representative of authority.” For insulting a doctor, driver, farmer or journalist - no, but for an official - up to 1 year of correctional labor. The law, therefore, clearly states that justice protects officials more thoroughly than ordinary citizens. Although all of them, including President Putin and Governor Stroev, are nothing more than managers hired by society to manage state affairs. They receive their salaries from the money that the same doctors, drivers, farmers or journalists pay to the budget as income taxes, but they claim a special significance that elevates them above society.

The bureaucracy, a reasonable amount necessary for the state, became an independent force, protected by special laws and deprived of responsibility to society. There is nothing new in this model. Oligarchies, whether class, religious, financial or ideological, have existed from time immemorial. There is only one thing new and very sad here: the civilized world is moving at the very least towards equal rights for citizens, while Russia is moving in the opposite direction.