Russian legislators on Friday proposed a bill to recriminalise libel, a move that came just over six months after the crime was downgraded to an administrative offence.
The Moscow Times reported yesterday that the bill would introduce maximum fines of approximately 500,000 roubles (approximately 12,324 euros) or up to five years in prison for libel, and fines of up to 50,000 roubles (approximately 1,232 euros) for insult. The current fine for both offences is reportedly 3,000 roubles (approximately 74 euros).
The bill was co-authored by centre-right party United Russia’s Pavel Krasheninnikov, who reportedly called the current penalty “ineffective”. He claimed that decriminalisation, which entered into effect Jan. 1, “hadn’t led to anything good.”
Krasheninnikov explained: “People are practically with impunity accusing others of the most heinous crimes, calling them bandits, terrorists and corrupt officials.”
International Press Institute (IPI) Executive Board Chair Galina Sidorova, who also chairs the Russian Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Foundation 19/29, criticised the move.
“The introduction of this bill only six months after defamation was decriminalised in December as part of a general liberalisation under then-President Dmitry Medvedev is another attempt by the current Kremlin regime to intimidate the protest movement, and anybody who dares to criticise the government, by accusing it of corruption and other misdeeds,” she said.
Laws on libel and insult were only relaxed last year, under then-President Dmitry Medvedev. International observers and human rights activists welcomed the relaxation of those laws as an important step towards a free media, especially as the moves were accompanied by amendments providing greater protection for journalists from threats and violence.
Critics said they regarded Friday’s proposal as only the latest in a line of attempts to silence dissent in Russia.
Also on Friday, policymakers proposed an amendment that would label politically-active, foreign-funded NGOs as “foreign agents” and require them to regularly submit reports on their activities. Some NGOs said they were particularly incensed by the term “foreign agent,” as it reportedly still holds Cold War-connotations for many Russians.
Just last month, parliament fast-tracked a controversial bill substantially increasing fines for participating in “unsanctioned” protests from 5,000 roubles (approximately 123 euros) to 1,000,000 roubles (approximately 24,600 euros). The law was approved just ahead of an anti-Putin rally planned in Moscow.
