Embargo July 20 1:01 am
BERLIN/MOSKAU (dpa-AFX) – The human rights organization Amnesty International has complained of increasing pressure on opponents of the war in Ukraine in view of the tightened laws in Russia. “The repression in Russia is profound. A whole range of measures are being used to silence criticism of the Russian war of aggression,” said the organization in Berlin. Again and again, people in Russia who criticize the war are fined or imprisoned. Some courts impose years of imprisonment. More than 20,000 activists are now affected.
People would be criminalized who spoke their mind. Amnesty criticized Russia for using its judicial system to punish dissenters. “The extremely unfair processes in this system lead to prison terms and large fines,” said Julia Duchrow, Amnesty International’s deputy secretary-general in Germany, according to a statement from the organization.
“New, absurd laws” had been passed, it said. For example, the law criminalizes defaming the Russian army, making mention of war crimes impossible. A law prohibiting the dissemination of false information is also often applied. What is right and what is wrong is usually determined by the power apparatus. Amnesty also documents cases in which Russians have been sentenced to camps – and are now regarded by the organization as political prisoners.
In a new study, Amnesty says it has analyzed the repressive laws in their function of suppressing an anti-war movement in Russia. In 2022 alone, more than 21,000 people were punished in Russia. Fines were usually imposed as a result. In more than 2000 cases there were arrest sentences. People in Russia who say something against Moscow’s war in Ukraine on social networks are also being persecuted time and time again. The organization called for all those imprisoned to be released and for the repressive laws to be withdrawn./mau/DP/stw