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How has the number of treason cases changed ?

In January-March 2023, Russia opened as many criminal cases under this article as there were in the entire previous year, lawyer Valery Vetoshkin estimates. At the same time, it became more difficult to count them in 2023: the FSB stopped promptly publishing press releases about detentions. We probably know about only 30-40% of cases of treason, but in fact there may be much more, says Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the First Department human rights project.

Based on open data, since the beginning of 2023, at least 19 criminal cases of treason have already been opened in Russia and in the territories it occupies. Only in March it became known about nine new cases. For comparison: for the whole of 2022, according to the First Department, about 20 such cases were opened.

What do the accusers consider treason?

According to Vetoshkina, now criminal cases under articles on treason and attempted treason are most often initiated for “crossing over to the side of the enemy,” that is, to the side of Ukraine. As a rule, in such cases, Russians are detained at the border, as they were supposedly going to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Also, more cases are now being opened for preparing for treason and attempted treason. In the first case, a person can be accused, for example, of texting on his phone, in which he allegedly announced his readiness to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the second case, a person can be charged if he is detained, for example, at the border with Ukraine.

At the same time, all such cases are considered in strict secrecy, and if the FSB does not publish the essence of the accusation, then it is impossible to find out what the person is accused of, or whether he pleads guilty. Dmitry Zair-Bek explained to Sibir.Realiyam that in those criminal cases about which something is known, the crimes that the accused are charged with look quite far-fetched, and the accused themselves are completely ordinary people, “pulled out of the crowd.” The article on treason itself, according to Zair-Bek, is written in a very abstract and incomprehensible way, so FSB officers can interpret it as they like and independently determine what is treason and what is not.

In addition to “going over to the side of the enemy”, people are taken away for money transfers by the Armed Forces of Ukraine - three such cases are already known. The first such case against a resident of Moscow was reported on March 4, 2023 - it was allegedly initiated because she financially helped the Ukrainian army. The second case became known on March 13: the FSB accused an activist of the movement in support of the ex-governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergei Furgal, of treason, who allegedly transferred funds "for the acquisition of weapons, ammunition and uniforms by the Armed Forces of Ukraine." on The third case was reported April 11: the security forces detained a resident of Khabarovsk, who also allegedly helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine with donations. The names of the detainees have not been released.

Another reason for the detention is the transfer of data to Ukraine. for transferring military-technical information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was allegedly detained On April 4 , a married couple from Nizhny Tagil . "Cold" found out that the detainees Danil and Victoria Mukhametov worked at the defense enterprise "Uralvagonzavod". The FSB reported that the information they had transmitted could allegedly be used against the Russian army and that during the search, “objects of espionage activity” were confiscated from the Mukhametovs.

There are also cases that are not formally filed for treason, but lawyers believe that they can be discussed in this context. In the summer of 2022, a new criminal article appeared, under which those Russians are accused who allegedly “cooperate on a confidential basis with a foreign state” and this cooperation is “directed against the security” of Russia. The article was introduced after the start of the war, and it can only be imputed if the FSB sees no signs of treason, Vetoshkina explained to Kholod. on suspicion of “confidential cooperation with a foreign state” at the end of February For example, a resident of the Tula region was detained . He faces three to eight years in prison, the details of the case were not disclosed.

Arson of the military enlistment office - also treason?

On April 1 , it became known that a resident of Novosibirsk, Ilya Baburin, who had been detained in the autumn allegedly for trying to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office, was accused of attempted treason. According to the Solidarity Zone project, there were no new episodes in his case, that is, he was charged with attempted arson.

According to Vetoshkina, initially they were accused of such actions under the article on “intentional destruction or damage to someone else’s property.” Then, for attempting to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office, they began to file cases about organizing or committing a terrorist attack. That is, as a rule, while the arson of military registration and enlistment offices was not summed up under the article on treason, but everything can change: this was shown by the case of Baburin.

Can a person be tried under several articles at once if they are already being tried for treason?

Sometimes a person can be charged not only under the article on treason, but also under others. For example, the politician Vladimir Kara-Murza is accused under several articles, including treason. The state believes that Kara-Murza committed three different crimes: assisting a foreign organization in activities directed against Russia's security, spreading "fakes" about the army, and participating in the work of an "undesirable" organization (Free Russia Foundation).

“No one can be punished twice for the same crime,” Vetoshkin’s lawyer explains. “The same goes for acts: one act can only be qualified as one crime.” That is, if a person who was allegedly preparing to go over to the side of the enemy is already on trial for treason, then according to the law, one more article cannot be added to this.