What Svanidze, Masyuk and Khakamada advised Putin

The first meeting of the new composition of the Presidential Human Rights Council took place today.

Topics of the first meeting

At the first meeting, President Putin said that he was ready to take his time with the adoption of the draft law , which would introduce punishment for insulting the religious beliefs and feelings of citizens. Putin said that such a law “is necessary, but we need to think about it so that there are no excesses,” because the concept of “feelings” is an “emotional form.” “But sometimes behind this form lie great events,” the president cited the example of the film “The Innocence of Muslims,” which caused a strong reaction in the Islamic world.

Putin said that he was ready to return to discussing the bill on treason . The High Treason Law, which strengthens the protection of state secrets, toughens penalties for their disclosure and introduces criminal liability for illegally obtaining information constituting a state secret. The President supported the proposal of the Council members to “look again at the law on foreign agents.” “I believe that everything that is not related to politics should be excluded from the application of this law,” Putin said Monday at a meeting of the presidential council. The law, which was adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council, states that organizations engaged in political activities that receive funding from abroad will be required to call themselves “foreign agents.” This law caused a wave of discontent; the NGOs themselves were going to fight the new law with sabotage and court . In addition, Putin promised to consider the issue of taking special control over criminal cases of attacks on journalists. The issue of Pussy Riot and Leonid Razvozzhaev was not raised at the meeting, although members of the HRC previously interviewed by PublicPost promised to discuss these topics with Putin at the first meeting of the renewed council.

PublicPost spoke with the new members of the HRC about what happened at the meeting of the updated Council.

Irina Khakamada, public figure, politician:

“I managed to take the floor, although I was told that only old members of the Council would be able to speak. I raised the issue of the law that is now being considered in the Duma, the initiator of this law was all factions, including the opposition - the law on insulting religious feelings. From a legal point of view, it view is absolutely illiterate. Instead of consolidating society and establishing some culture, this law will only lead to problems. Religious feelings are not a legal concept. As a result, anyone can get three years in prison. This will provoke an aggravation of the situation on the part of those who who tests the strength of confessions, and on the part of those who defend these confessions.”

— Why didn’t you raise the issue about Pussy Riot if you touched on the topic of insulting religious feelings?

This is exactly what I meant. If I had said something specifically about them, I would have received an appropriate reaction. I need to achieve results so that others do not suffer. We created a working group, which included Nikolai Svanidze, lawyer Vladimir Ryakhovsky and me.

If you say something about Pussy Riot, they will say that this is a problem of the court, where the president does not interfere. Fedotov explained this to me: if you want to achieve something, you must raise issues in a form in which the president has formal leverage.

— Did Mikhail Fedotov consult you before the meeting?

Yes, he advised me, and I raised the question. Now the presidential administration will be able to correct it.

— Do you think you will be able to influence the president?

How can I tell you, Putin polemicized with me, but gently. There was a reaction.

Nikolai Svanidze, television journalist, historian:

“I didn’t ask for the floor, but I allowed myself a remark. The speaker was Daniil Borisovich Dondurei (editor-in-chief of the magazine “Art and Cinema” - editor’s note), who said that there was a lot of dirt and jaundice on television, spoke about how low the central television. He proposed introducing public councils on television channels. I took the floor and said that there is a problem, but public councils, as we know, end with political censorship, which we have more than enough of. By the way, this is with me. Putin agreed.

I don't know what to expect from the Council. I have very vague feelings. The President was positive and spent three hours of his time with us. Argued with someone, agreed with someone. And he even agreed that the position of the Council should somehow influence its decision-making. But these are words. The words of a politician are not always spoken in order to be implemented later.

So far, the position of the Council has not been taken into account, which has led to the fact that several very bright, effective, strong people, among whom there are icons of Russian human rights protection, left the Council. Now there are strong and respected people there too. But it is no coincidence that those human rights activists left the project. For Lyudmila Alekseeva and Svetlana Gannushkina, the reason was that the Council seemed to be working in vain. If this continues, then so be it. I have no basis for conclusions, but for now this leads to pessimistic conclusions."

Elena Masyuk, journalist:

"I touched on issues related to the work of a journalist. In particular, I talked about the law on libel. The criminal article for libel is now formulated incorrectly. I also talked about the fact that physical force was used against 30 journalists starting in December last year. In In the end, no one was punished. We asked the Investigative Committee to report. We asked that the law reflect the reaction of officials to journalistic materials. This is also very important. In addition, there is criminal prosecution for criticism - that this article be returned. There were some points that were important to mention: Putin’s reaction was positive. Now it will take time to understand whether there is a real reaction or it’s all just in words.

Putin made a lot of notes to himself and listened carefully. I hope there will be a result. Of course, such a number of people only complicates the work, because everyone wants to convey something. We’ll see, I can’t say anything about this yet.”

Liliya Shibanova, executive director of the Golos association:

"I did not expect that there would be such a detailed discussion. A general acquaintance took place. The president showed interest in all topics. I’m not sure about the influence on the president, but there was interest. Many questions arise about further work. Such a composition of the council, too diverse, will not allow concentration on some topic. This is just a speech for five minutes. But this is just the beginning, and we’ll see later.

I was not able to speak, many would have liked to speak, but with so many people..."

Photo: ITAR-TASS