30 October 2012
The primary goal of the recent State Duma bill that expands the definition of treason is political. As with the other repressive laws passed this summer and fall, Russians have begun feeling the heavy impact of the treason bill even before it has become a law. The Federal Security Service has kept a typically low profile until recently, deliberately staying in the shadows of the Investigative Committee and Interior Ministry. This behavior is inconsistent with the "new nobility" status that the agency held throughout the 2000s. Meanwhile, the opposition, which had preferred to stage pickets outside the offices of the Investigative Committee, switched to picketing FSB headquarters on Lubyanka after the anti-opposition film "Anatomy of a Protest 2" was broadcast on NTV, opposition figure Sergei Udaltsov was charged with trying to organize mass riots and opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev was abducted in Kiev……
In addition, treason charges can be used not only against those who reveal state secrets, but also against journalists, nongovernmental organizations and anyone else who receive "secret" information from any source. ……..In Russia, treason always has been more of an ideological than a legal concept, a leftover from the Soviet-era Criminal Code. Now, even before charges have been filed against a single individual, the legislation is helping the Kremlin bring a new chill of fear over the entire country. To Read More……
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