Since the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin in 2012, the Russian government has instituted an unprecedented and sweeping crackdown on critics of the government, and one of its tools has been overbroad and vague anti-extremism legislation. As the space for freedom of speech in the traditional media narrows, the government is now going after the Internet and targeting individuals who try to stir public debate about sensitive issues, especially Ukraine.The pool of candidates for Russia's jails under the new anti-protest law is virtually never-ending. The Bolotnaya matter, which had threatened dozens of peaceful Russian protesters with prison back in 2012 is the protest that keeps on giving, as it were. Bolotnaya obviously still looms as a continued threat to this day. So many people from all the various opposition groups, not just the liberals, were present that the authorities can and have arbitrarily decided to investigate or threaten with prosecution at the drop of a hat, as happened to opposition politician Natalya Pelevina. And of course, there are the Orwellian "single-person picket" protesters, governed by Russian federal law. Single person pickets were carved out as an exception to various requirements on the holding and organizing or public events codified in Russian Federal Law NO. 54-FZ passed in 2004. In June 2012, these protest laws were significantly amended by Federal Law NO. 65-FZ, which now reflect the true nature of Russia's cruel new repressive era. Among its many provisions, NO. 65-FZ expressly states that people who want to picket can do so, however under strict conditions: (1) a picketer must be alone, without others, and (2) a picketer must stand at a minimum distance of 50 meters from any other nearby picketer. Furthermore, you can only protest in this restricted manner 2 times within 6 months. The third time will subject you to the criminal law against repetitive violations governed by Article 212.1. How can anyone have any impact or even feel they have a voice under such repressive conditions? That, of course, is precisely the point. The Putin regime can't get rid of every opponent, despite its remarkable record of political assassination (Boris Nemtsov), arrest (Mikhail Khodorkovsky), and persecution (Alexey Navalny). So the regime has crafted laws which appear to give limited freedom of expression with one hand but effectively take away the right of freedom of assembly with the other. The stringent conditions on the former effectively criminalize the latter. In other words, the Russian Constitution pronouncement that “Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to assemble peacefully, without weapons, hold rallies, meetings and demonstrations, marches and pickets” is nullified by the new criminal code provisions which specifically target the very heart of public assembly, the ability to join in solidarity with others. The law as it stands says, You can protest, but you must do so alone and not often. You have a voice, but it is very quiet, because it cannot be amplified by gathering with other voices. As if these draconian laws restricting freedom of expression and peaceable assembly in Russia weren't bad enough, in practice the laws themselves create the very circumstances that allow Russian authorities to make arresting protesters even more arbitrary and much easier. First, the laws force anti-government protesters to appear anti-social. Who stands alone holding a sign in the middle of a city but someone odd, an outcast or a misfit? Add to this forced anti-social behavior the portrayal on state-controlled media of anti-government protesters as traitors to Russia, serving a western enemy, etc. and the message becomes even clearer. If you don't support Putin or his policies, you are anti-social, unpatriotic, and not a true Russian. This is exactly how high-profile opposition figures are portrayed, if they're even mentioned, in Russia's most popular television media. They are demonized as enemies of the state so thoroughly that average media-consuming Russians have no qualms approaching protesters and arguing with them, cursing them, even assaulting them. This dehumanization of opponents to Putin's regime has taken off in the wake of neighboring Ukraine's Euromaidan Revolution, also known simply as Maidan (Ukrainian for "square"). Despite the fact that Maidan was an overwhelmingly positive peaceful assembly, Russian propaganda media focused only on the scenes of bloody clashes and burning tires, calling the protesters Nazis and fascists. The very word "Maidan" is now a dirty word in Russian, having become a shorthand for protests which invariably turn violent. In this way, even peaceful protesters who oppose war in Ukraine, true peaceniks as it were, are now associated in Russian society with violent government overthrows. By the same faulty logic, anyone supporting Ukraine must be a traitor to Russia as well. Under such intense conditions of demonization of opposition voices, it comes as no surprise that protesters, even single-picket protesters, standing alone with their signs, are ripe targets for abuse. That abuse, whether from organized pro-Kremlin provocateur groups, like NOD or SERB, or from ordinary Russian citizens, subsequently provides the circumstances in which single-person picket protesters find themselves no longer alone. And thus no longer protesting "under the law." This is precisely what happened to activist Mark Galperin. As he describes the latest such incident on his Facebook page, he stood alone on Manezh (Manege) Square with a protest sign, a single picketer, perfectly legal within the confines of Russian law. Two strangers approached him and unraveled their own placard. The police arrived out of nowhere and arrested Galperin, not the others.
This is our new reality today.In recent weeks, there has been a sharp escalation in the scale of political repression in Russia. In just the past few days, several people who went out with protest signs or who posted on social media were quickly tried and sentenced to significant prison terms. This constitutes a transition to a fundamentally new level of political repression by the regime, and its attempt to accustom society to it. In recent weeks, there has been a sharp escalation in the scale of political repression in Russia. In just the past few days, several people who went out with protest signs or who posted on social media were quickly tried and sentenced to significant prison terms. This constitutes a transition to a fundamentally new level of political repression by the regime, and its attempt to accustom society to it.This is not a trivial matter in the life of Russia. What's been happening in the last few weeks is NOT a continuing trend toward tighter authoritarianism that we have seen in recent years. This is a fundamental change. It is an attempt to establish a swift means of direct and unlawful political repression. This is not a trivial matter in the life of Russia. What's been happening in the last few weeks is NOT a continuing trend toward tighter authoritarianism that we have seen in recent years. This is a fundamental change. It is an attempt to establish a swift means of direct and unlawful political repression.I urge all people who have a sense of morality, civic and political responsibility, to think about this. Whatever position you may occupy, whatever arguments of "balance" and compromise you may have formulated for yourselves, we must remember that we are moving to a situation where these arguments are actually becoming prison terms for some people. It is a new situation, and it touches you, it is directed against you. You, and your good intentions, will soon be nothing in its wake. Your morals will mean nothing. I urge all people who have a sense of morality, civic and political responsibility, to think about this. Whatever position you may occupy, whatever arguments of "balance" and compromise you may have formulated for yourselves, we must remember that we are moving to a situation where these arguments are actually becoming prison terms for some people. It is a new situation, and it touches you, it is directed against you. You and your good intentions will soon be nothing in its wake. Your morals will mean nothing. Resistance, aggressive, non-trivial resistance, to this attempt to accustom society to a new normal of direct political repression, it seems to me, is the main task of Russian civil society today. We need to stop the machine of political repression. It will not stop on its own. That's all.
These are the very people who could and should be building Russia's future, instead of reliving its tragic repressive past in penal colonies.
