Rights group asks Russian Constitutional Court to rule on legality of reunification with Crimea

Mikhail Anshakov, the chairman of the OZPP consumer rights group, has appealed to Russia’s Constitutional Court to determine the legality of Russia’s reunification with Crimea. The formal appeal to the court was filed in Anshakov’s name, along with two other individuals, Valery Otstavnyi and Konstantin Seleznev.

In mid-June 2015, OZPP made headlines in Russia when the media discovered its travel advisory to tourists visiting Crimea, warning that the peninsula’s status as “occupied territory” exposes vacationers to certain criminal liabilities.

Anshakov and his companions are asking the court to decide if Russia’s absorption of Crimea last year violates two separate clauses of the Constitution: one requiring the country to observe international law, and another barring any changes to Russia’s constitutional order.

The reason for turning to the Constitutional Court was the Russian government’s refusal to register the "Union in Support of Russian-Ukrainian Friendship,” an international social movement that recognizes Crimea as Ukrainian territory. Saying that Crimea is a part of Russia and therefore the "Union" doesn’t qualify for “international movement” status, the Justice Ministry and later a Moscow court refused to register the group.

The Constitutional Court must decide whether to hear or reject the appeal no later than three months from the time it is filed.

Public Control Society for Protecting Consumer Rights (OZPP)

• The Crimean Peninsula, also known as Crimea, is a territory of about 27,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles) on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In 1954, the Soviet government transferred the territory from the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and it remained a part of independent Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In March 2014, Russia reabsorbed Crimea, following a referendum held on the peninsula on March 16.
• On June 22, Russian federal censors blocked access to the web page featuring OZPP’s travel advisory, and the Attorney General’s Office demanded that state investigators launch a criminal case against the organization.
• Duma deputy Alexander Sidyakin has also asked the Attorney General’s Office to determine if OZPP is operating as a “foreign agent.” Police declined his request, however, explaining that OZPP cannot qualify as a foreign agent, insofar as it ceased to be a formal legal entity three years ago.