On January 20, the Government Commission on Legislative Activities approved the proposal of the Ministry of Justice to tighten liability under the criminal article of inciting hatred or hostility (Article 282 of the Criminal Code). Vedomosti reported this with reference to its source.
The main changes will affect the first part of this article. Now cases under it can be brought against those who were previously prosecuted under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code). The Ministry of Justice, in turn, proposes to qualify a one-time “violation” as a criminal offense.
“The initiative will return the text of the law to the state of 2018 and, most likely, will lead to an increase in criminal cases of an extremist nature. To initiate a criminal case, it will no longer be necessary to have a resolution to bring a person to administrative responsibility,” comments lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina, who collaborates with OVD-Info.
In addition, more qualifying features will be added to the second part of Article 282 of the Criminal Code: the commission of an act by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy, or an organized group - instead of an organized group. Managing partner of Key Consulting Group Vadim Egulemov, in a conversation with Vedomosti, noted that this could also lead to an increase in the number of criminal cases. “Moreover, proof in criminal cases is simplified, since much more confirming factors are needed to establish an organized group,” he said.
- Russian courts regularly impose fines and other punishments under the article on inciting hatred and enmity (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code). Formally, this article was introduced to protect vulnerable groups, but it is used to prosecute not only for xenophobic statements, but also for criticism of the authorities and law enforcement officers. OVD-Info collects information about such persecutions.