Translated material
Wait and sit
Photo: Grani.ru
The “rally” article 212.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation began to apply: on January 16 it became known about the first criminal case against the activist of the Solidarity movement Vladimir Ionov , who regularly participated in single pickets; On January 20, Mark Halperin , serving 38 days of arrest for the same pickets, was delivered for an interrogation. Both faces up to five years in prison.
How will a new club be used? What awaits those who are not ready to abandon basic civil rights? What does the authorities seek by criminallying a peaceful protest?
Maria Ryabikova , civil activist:
The purpose of the new version of the Law on rallies, I think, was a simple intimidation - perhaps not only civil activists, but all generally dissatisfied with various occasions. Now, apparently, they decided that the time for "heavy artillery" had come. Whether they consider it sufficient to plant or rob two or three people or take up all of us who have the number of administrations allows us to judge.
To start with the work of Vladimir Ionov - an apotheosis of idiocy and at the same time cynicism: the 75 -year -old pensioner slapped 170 thousand fine, and even with the prospect of a criminal case! No one was worried that in the complete "solitude" of his pickets could not be doubted. He annoyed them all with his creative posters in the center of the capital, although few people walk except tourists in the male. They just decided to show that they don't like it. An ordinary demonstration of power ... By the way, this time Ionov generally stood with a poster against terrorism in French. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov was going to go through the same way in France ...
Alla Frolova , public defender of Vladimir Ionov on administrative cases:
Talk about the prospects of persecution under 212.1 reluctance. Of course, new criminal cases are possible. Ionov cannot go through this case. You can guess who was often in pickets there. If the first is ion, who is 75 years old, we must think that the next one will be younger.
Why this is done, of course. Take a person for five under the article - and again there will be a lull. And then some have been sewing up on Saturdays. This is a political effect: suddenly someone else will join them, some organizations will be created. And if these point attacks are removed, there will be nothing at all.
You can’t defend yourself in these matters. In the situation with Ionov, we observe not even double, but triple imputation, which is prohibited by the constitution. First, a person is punished simply for pickets, then in part 8 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for a new picket plus for those for which he had already been punished before, and after all they initiate a criminal case for the same set of pickets. Well, how the administratives are considered ... when Ionov was judged by part 8 20.2, it took a much more time to read the decision and identification than for the consideration of the case. Judge Ivanov did not pay attention to the fact that according to the protocol the offense was committed at 21.00, the time of delivery to the Department of Internal Affairs is 20.45, and the transfer of administrative material to the court at 19.45. Yes, and he listened to me when I took my word, standing between the deliberative room and the table, the folder was already under the arm.
Vera Lavreshina , civil activist:
The authorities make us understand that the jokes are over. The war does not stop in Ukraine, Putin cannot stop it, as he is afraid of the fall of the rating: well, how, they will fall in love with patriots, they will consider it a weakling. The “Nationalist” is driven into a corner, like that low -memorable rat, which he, by his youth, drove an iron rod in the basement, which boasted to the journalists. Now, it seems, he has no way to retreat, it remains to tighten the nuts. Now he will rush to the remnants of civil society with tente fury. So it seems to me.
We were made to understand that freedom may lose any of us who has gone to a single picket. It is not enough to keep the regime hostage of such avid “terrorists” and “extremists” as Savchenko, Sentsov, Kolchenko, Stomakhin, Polyudov, novels, who have long been appointed guilty, kept in a pre -trial detention center and have more and more new affairs. We were clearly made to understand that now any of us for a single picket can be given 38 days, like a brand of Halperin, and they may also be a fine from 200 to 600 thousand, as Vladimir Ionov. And they will want to - and they will plant for five years: Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code entered into force ... In addition, in addition to the police, they are now also set on people of aggressive bandits, “anti -Maidanists” in striped caps, this is already a real, fierce fascism.
What to do in such conditions? Probably, we should rally if possible, stop finding out who is for Navalny and who is not, and go out on the pickets in support of Putin’s captives, all political prisoners, do not forget about them, do not throw them in trouble.
You can not allow the Kremlin to drive us into the stall, force us to live, as we lived with Andropov and Stalin, namely, in such an atmosphere, we risk plunging completely. You can not allow yourself to intimidate. I urge everyone to go to the pickets in support of all political prisoners, in support of Nadezhda Savchenko, first of all, she has been starving from December 13, demanding recognition of herself as a prisoner of war. For us, its resistance should serve as an example. You can win only by putting pressure on power.
Sergey Davidis, lawyer, human rights activist:
Obviously, the authorities, instead of solving problems, are trying to close even weak feedback channels. First of all, in the form of public events (to a lesser extent, this applies to statements on the Internet). They made dragon laws and, apparently, will continue to adopt them, following the ridiculous hope that this is how public problems can be solved. This hope is empty, so they increase pressure, it will not lead to anything good.
Now, under the blow, the most active members of the opposition. They can be planted, difficult to make the life of exorbitant fines, to make disorderly this, of course, is unpleasant, but in the end it will harm the regime itself.
And, of course, these persecutions are inconsistent with the alleged public danger. Not only for violation of the procedure for holding a rally, quite legal, from the point of view, actions are issued. Even a hypothetical public danger from an inconsistent demonstration is disproportionate to neither fines such nor arrests for 30 days, nor even a five -year term.
Sergey Nikitin , head of the AMNESTY International representative office in Russia:
Recently, we have been observing the activation of the Russian authorities, which is expressed in pressure on civil society. The authorities are taking steps so that the rights and freedoms that belong to us under the constitution are compressed. Evidence of this is recent changes in the law, including in relation to peaceful demonstrations. Now a criminal case has been instituted against a person at a respectable age. The picture is very alarming, Amnesty is preoccupied with this, we are preparing a statement. The general trend is clear: we see how the work of the parliament is accelerated. Laws are adopted with amazing speed. The Russian authorities, fearing legal protests, will apply these articles.
The fate of everyone who will be persecuted in 212.1, we will closely monitor. The decision to recognize the prisoner of conscience will be made individually: for this we need to be sure that a person was a participant in a peaceful demonstration.
Pavel Kuznetsov , civil activist:
In conditions of moral burning out of the protest movement, the complete apathy of the conformist majority and the growing fascist of the lumpenized part of the society, the initiation of a criminal case against activist Vladimir Ionov is only a logical course of power for his own strengthening by the “indicative vice” method.
The logic of the evolution of the dictatorship is such that, without meeting the proper resistance from civil society, the authorities inevitably expands its impact on a separate person, always looking for arguments to turn civil rights and freedoms.
Disappointed in the values of freedom due to the difficulties of the transition period of the 90s, patient with the strongest post-imperial syndrome, fascinated by increasing the standard of living thanks to the coincidence of the coming to power of the brutal leader with a fabulous take-off of energy prices, modern Russian society easily prescribes card-blinh for repression against dissenters, not wanting to see for themselves in this worthy attention of the threat. Pursuing self-serving goals, and along the way and wanting to "go down in history" a certain collector of the hybrid of the Soviet-Orthodox Empire, the authorities easily sink ideology so necessary for our own strengthening, playing the traditional erogenous zones of the sovereign and spirituality of the Russian people.
You should not build illusions that having given the next stronghold of our rights and freedoms and accepting the “new rules of the game”, we will be able to avoid the further persecution by the authorities of those who do not want to stand at the rack quietly in front of the system. Having no barriers to stop, this rink will inevitably go further. Having neutralized the active protest, he will definitely take it for those who protest passively: from sofa grumbers to ordinary fans of "enemy decaying values" in everyday life. Be sure, just like that he will not stop.
What to do in this joyless situation and how to stop this rink?
I am convinced that it is necessary to create an open group of solidarity of people who are ready to follow Vladimir Ionov, ignoring the arguments like "I have a family ... work ... children", "still nothing will come out", etc. And not afraid of the prison. Let's stop lying to ourselves - only an access to peaceful, but unauthorized shares of several dozen really brave people will help everyone defend the right to public expressing their own opinion. The authorities will have to go on a criminal prosecution of an unbearable large number of people for an offense sucked from a finger. I personally am ready for such a step, but I understand that the strategy worked, the faces of the first media size should join it. The mechanisms of participation in the group, designed to insure from the appearance of indecisive lovers of beautiful PR, is quite easy to work out in advance.
From the experience of recent years, it is clear: only having entered the trap of its own insanity and too painfully pinching the tail, the authorities will be able to hand back.