Bad news for the fight against the war in Russia

Russia’s Constitutional Court has rejected a request to strike down a law that bars human rights groups from speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The NGOs filed a lawsuit in April, alleging that the legislation violated articles of the Russian constitution, including freedom of expression and freedom of conscience.

One of the complainants was opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was fined three times for his anti-war statements and then sentenced to eight and a half years in prison last December for spreading “false information” about the armed forces.

“WILL BE ASKED IN A PLEASANT WAY”

In its rejection decision, the Constitutional Court stated that decisions made by state institutions “to defend the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens and to promote international peace and security” cannot be arbitrarily challenged.

To do so, he said, would amount to denying “the legal character of the Russian Federation, the supremacy of its constitution and its obligation to comply with its prescriptions, which are inadmissible under the constitution of the Russian Federation.”

Under the law, approximately 6,500 people have been prosecuted in Russia for organizing anti-war demonstrations, posting their views online or wearing anti-war symbols on their clothing.

Those who break the law are fined first, and if they repeat, a lawsuit is launched with a request for up to five years in prison for “dishonor to the armed forces.” The sentence for “spreading false information” about the military is 15 years.