November 25, 2020

The Kremlin sees people feeding pigeons as a threat for its rule

topic:	Rule of Law
located:	Russia
editor:	Igor Serebryany

Ten months before the parliamentary elections, Russia's ruling United Russia party spouts with new bills aimed at securing its victory next September.

In just one week, a member of the pro-Kremlin party's faction Dmitry Vyatkin introduced five bills, roughly one a day, each of them proposing more restrictions to the existing laws and regulations about public gatherings and other forms of public political activities, as well as proposals which would make media coverage of such events less independent.

In particular, the legislator wants to ban such activities like "queuing near a solo picket person" and "rallying in the vicinities of emergency services, courts and police departments", to name a few.

Another bill of his envisages a ban on fundraising for the non-commercial organisations using foreign sponsors, anonymous sponsors, persons younger than 18 and judicial entities which were established less than a year ago.

In general, the MP offered to criminalise any forms of public gathering outdoors if their purpose is "to express and to form public opinion."

Vyatkin explains his recent lawmaking spree with the "growing creativity of the opposition" which "restlessly invents new forms of protest actions using the loopholes in the existing legislation." The "cunny citizens" organise flashmobs which formally don't fall under the legal definition of a meeting or rally, such as feeding pigeons in the squares or drinking tea in the city yards. Still, the opposition uses these presumably non-political gatherings to discuss anti-government agenda, the State Duma, the parliament, member rages.

He also mentioned a recent "street performance" by an "artist" Pavel Krisevich who mock-crucified himself near the entrance to the Federal Security Service in downtown Moscow, while his friends "set him on fire" with harmless chemicals used in movie production to imitate flames.

"We must outwit them all", Vyatkin called on his colleagues in the Duma.

Vyatkin's recent initiatives haven't been something unexpected for the human rights community, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group Natalia Zvyagina says.

"Attempts to declare any gathering of more than three people a rally were made in 2012. The legislators amended the law about meetings so any such gathering must receive the authorities' approval, even if people are going just to stay silently," she says.

The authorities were frightened by the massive anti-government demonstrations in 2012, so they banned even non-political events like historical re-enactments or role-play festivals. In a few years, with protest activity subsiding, the restrictions were eased accordingly. The authorities resumed tightening the screws after street protests erupted in Moscow after elections to the city's legislative assembly in September 2019.

"If Vyatkin's proposals become law, the police will have a right to crack down even on someone's birthday party in the park," Zvyagina foresees.

New oppressive laws have been a spot reaction on the latest protests, so they futile from a legal point of view, a member of the presidential Human Rights Councils Alexander Verkhovsky believes.

"The MP simply collected together the know-how of the opposition, so his amendments are redundant. Russians are actually creative folks. If the lawmakers seal one loophole, the people will soon find a bypass which isn't anticipated by the law. So what, the legislators are going to play non-stop hit-and-run with the opposition?" he says.

Image by Éva Zara

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