A few days after the launch of the offensive against Ukraine, the authorities had adopted two laws punishing respectively the “discrediting” of Russian forces and the dissemination of “false information” on social networks. 292792422/sitthiphong – stock.adobe.com
DECRYPTION – People convicted of having “discredited” the Russian army in Ukraine are now liable to 15 years in prison.
Correspondent in Moscow
The Russian government continues to beef up the judicial arsenal intended to repress the few voices that publicly speak out against the war in Ukraine. The deputies of the Duma adopted last week in second reading amendments increasing up to 15 years in prison (compared to 5 years previously) the sentences that can be imposed to punish remarks “discrediting” the Russian forces engaged in “the operation special soldier”. These amendments – still under legislative consideration but whose validation is not in doubt – also introduce sanctions for criticism of Russian “volunteers”, a term designating in particular the mercenaries of the paramilitary group Wagner, on the front line in Donbass in the Battle of Bakhmout. Among these militiamen are a good number of detainees, often heavily sentenced, recruited in prisons for a six-month contract at the front promising them an amnesty… if they come back alive…
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