“Can concern any report”: in the first reading a law on “assistance to sanctions” has been adopted

Yesterday, the State Duma appeared in the database, and today it has already been adopted in the first reading (the second reading is scheduled for Thursday) the law on the so -called "assistance to sanctions." It provides for the emergence of a new article - 284.2 of the Criminal Code.

The refusal to conduct business with those who are under sanctions will face a fine or deprivation of liberty up to four years. And for the “committing a citizen of the Russian Federation, deliberate actions that contribute to the introduction of a foreign state, the Union of foreign states or an international organization” restrictions on “Russian private and public entities, as well as persons controlled by him, including by providing recommendations and transfer of information”, will also vary from a fine to three years in prison. The bill was introduced by the speakers of the Federation Council and State Duma Valentina Matvienko and Vyacheslav Volodin, as well as the leaders of all four fractions of the State Duma. OVD-Info talked with experts about what to expect from a new criminal article.

Natalia Taubina, Director of the Public Verdict Foundation: We will sue

Many bills of recent times suffer from legal uncertainty, and here it is also completely incomprehensible what actions are in question, how their intention will be proved. The way it is formulated now can concern any report of any human rights organization. If the report refers to a violation of human rights and officials are listed, who, according to the human rights activists, violate the rights of a person, and then these officials will be in any sanctions lists, then the publication of the report can be interpreted as a criminally punished “deliberate action”.

It is not clear from the bill who can be punished - the head of the organization, the author of the report? If the authorship is not indicated - the entire staff of the organization? Of course, a large field for arbitrary use opens.

We never had such a thing in our heads that our actions should lead to the imposition of sanctions. We make analysts in the area in which we specialize. It is important for us to make it public so that people in Russia know about these problems and understand their scale. We stand on the fact that our activities and its results are published and Russian society should know about human rights violations. All our reports are backed by evidence: court decisions, claims, medical documents.

Now we will not change something in the principles of our work due to the emergence of such a bill. If we begin to consider us the most “Russian citizens who perform intentional actions”, we will sue.

Alexey Makarkin, Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technologies: there is a chance to accept with "narrow formulations"

In the spring, sanctions were imposed on Russia, it was necessary to somehow respond. You can impose sanctions against American entrepreneurs, but this is ineffective. Then a bill on the introduction of, in fact, federal sanctions against America (it was also adopted in the first reading- ATS-Info ). But there were problems immediately: the middle class is dissatisfied with the proposed ban on the import of drugs. Roscosmos is also dissatisfied: isolation is a shot in the leg. In the Titanian sphere, the Avisma Corporation, which supplies its products to America: such sanctions themselves will unload the market for its competitors.

As a result, the law will be adopted, but exclusively as a frame. Everything related to titanium, space and drugs were removed from it. This will be just a law giving the government the right to introduce restrictions. Since this law was cut, the idea of ​​a new bill appeared: to punish companies that follow sanctions, and people calling for their introduction.

It is not clear whether this will be effective in relation to companies. A private company cannot be obliged to credit a particular structure: we still have a market, not a command and administrative economy. Businessmen can always have many other excuses why they do not work with those who are under sanctions.

As for the second part of the bill: it is important what formulations will be when it is accepted. A wide wording is possible, a narrow one is possible. The narrow one will touch those who purposefully call for the introduction of sanctions, and are unlikely to affect many.

But there is the possibility of wide formulations - as in the law on foreign agents. Uncertain formulations can be very dangerous. Then it will threaten, for example, to people involved in journalistic investigations.

Or, for example, the latest American sanctions against Victor Vekselberg were justified by the fact that an investigation in Russia is being investigated against one of his companies. This himself did not affect the Vekselberg, but there are criminal cases against his managers. It is clear that the motives of the Americans were different: suspicions of interfering in the election campaign, but on the basis of suspicions of the sanction it is difficult to introduce, therefore they introduced this way. So under the new law with wide formulations, it will be possible to attract Russian investigators involved in these cases.

If there is an interest on the part of the company, it may be possible to adopt a new law with “narrow formulations”, which shows an example of a parallel adopted law on counter -sanctions. As we see, there is a precedent.

Dmitry Dinze, lawyer of the Agora international human rights group: there will be another club

The law was directed against human rights organizations that still remained in the country. They issue reports that can lead to the imposition of sanctions. Or against individual people who disseminate information on the activities of law enforcement agencies, bills and so on. Because this information is systematized by organizations operating in the same United States.

But the bill is now formulated so that anyone can concern anyone. State structures also periodically disseminate information that can lead to the introduction of sanctions. For example, if an HIV epidemic begins in St. Petersburg, and this will be officially announced-Finland can complicate the procedure for entering Russian citizens. Hypothetically, this can be imagined. Then the official information about the HIV epidemic will become a crime. It is not clear how they will prove that this or that information led to the imposition of sanctions. Will the reports of foreign organizations make certain persons?

Before such bills to propose, consultations should be held with experts, forensics, and representatives of law enforcement agencies - how this can be implemented. For each crime, there must be a methodology for investigations. You can not first adopt the law, and then create a methodology.

It seems to me that this law will not be used massively, but it will be another preventive police club to eliminate individual objectionable individuals, people from the business or NPO.