The head of the Ministry of Justice of Russia called the Decembrists "the subject of foreign influence." He stated that they were punished too softly (five were executed, more than a hundred were sent to Siberia)

“Unfortunately, the monarchy was very liberal, even excessively noble”

As part of the business program of the St. Petersburg International Law Forum, a discussion was held on the topic “Legal ideas of the Decembrists: Pro et Contra. History lessons. " Judging by the announcement on the forum’s website, the participants in the conversation were proposed to discuss the movement and uprising of the Decembrists of 1825 as “one of the most conflicting phenomena in the history of Russia”, as well as evaluate their ideas “from a legal point of view”.

Did the Decembrists really pursue exceptionally noble goals? What motives stood behind the uprising: ambition or sincere belief that they can turn the story in a more correct direction? Why did the investigation in the case of rebels stubbornly sought traces of “foreign backstage” in their actions? <...> Why were the Decembrists in their actions guided by anti -law methods, and not tried to build a constructive dialogue with the state, having all the possibilities for this? How true was the position of the authorities regarding the Decembrists and what consequences for the country their uprising entailed?

The Minister of Justice of Russia Konstantin Chuychenko took part in an interview among others. It is his department that maintains the registers of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations”. During the discussion, Chuychenko expressed his assessments of the Decembrist uprising. In particular, he discussed whether the participants in the uprising were “under foreign influence”, as well as what punishment they were subjected to. To the performance of the head of the Ministry of Justice drew the attention of the publication "Rotonda" and "Agency" .

At the beginning of his speech, Chuychenko said that the idea of ​​making a separate session about the Decembrists arose after watching the lecture of the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky about them. “Well, in fact, the question arose there whether they were under foreign influence,” the minister said.

According to Chuychenko, in the case of the Decembrists, “foreign influence” was a “completely different property”.

In this case, the Decembrists were not an object, but a subject of foreign influence. That is, they themselves went under this influence, studied Western ideas themselves. By the way, [Paul] Pestel, and [Nikita] Muravyov liked the North American experience most of all. And despite the differences in their fundamental acts ( probably we are talking about the “Russian truth” of Pestel and the “constitution” of Muravyov - two fundamental documents of the Decembrists' movement - approx. “Medusa” ), nevertheless, the US Constitution was a model for many issues. Personally, I do not look at foreign influence ... On their decision to go to the square. They, as they say, from Western culture, made the ground from Western ideology in order to form their views.

Chuychenko himself called the uprising “not progress, but regression,” because, according to the minister, without him “reforms and the abolition of serfdom would have taken place much earlier”.

According to the head of the Ministry of Justice, the authorities of the Russian Empire punished the Decembrists too softly. The five leaders and ideologists of the Decembrist uprising of 1825-Kondraty Ryleyev, Pavel Pestel, Peter Kakhovsky, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Sergey Muravyov-Apostol-executed over 100 Decembrists were exiled to Siberia for hard labor or to the settlement.

The next lesson from the uprising of the Decembrists is that the Russian state cannot afford to be weak. The state, like the revolution ... Remember the words of Dzerzhinsky: “Every revolution is only then standing when it knows how to defend itself”? So I would say the same in relation to the Russian state. The Russian state stands [something] only when it knows how to defend itself. Unfortunately, the monarchy was very liberal and, I would say, even excessively noble. If we see how the Decembrists were punished for their rebellion ... On the one hand, it causes great respect for the autocrat, on the other hand, it probably illustrates a certain, and maybe significant weakness of his and political regime.