Sunday Times 2
Back to the dark old days
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new treason law which opponents say could be used to smother dissent and put anyone who has contact with foreigners at risk. The law means Russians representing international organisations could be charged with treason. The maximum sentence for the offence is 20 years in prison.
Russia has brought in a new treason law which opponents say Putin (pictured left) will use it to silence his critics
The law was published in the official government gazette despite a promise by Mr Putin on Monday that he would review it. Political opponents and rights activists say the legislation is the latest in a series of laws cracking down on the opposition and reducing foreign influence since Mr Putin returned to the Kremlin in May for a six-year third term. ‘Citizens recruited by international organisations acting against the country’s interests will also be considered traitors,’ the official gazette, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said on its website.
At a meeting of his human rights council on Monday, Mr Putin listened to a retired Constitutional Court judge’s concerns about the legislation, which she said did not require authorities to prove a suspect damaged state security.
Russian officials have said the law is needed to help prevent foreign governments using organisations in Russia to gather state secrets.
The legislation allows Russians representing international organisations to be charged with treason, as well as those working for foreign states and bodies, and expands the range of actions that can be considered treasonous.
Putin signed the law on Tuesday and it took effect on Wednesday when it was published in the official gazette, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, despite a promise by the president on Monday that he would review it.
‘It’s an attempt to return not just to Soviet times but to the Stalin era, when any conversation with a foreigner was seen as a potential threat to the state,’ said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, 85, a former Soviet dissident and veteran human rights activist.
She said it would probably be used selectively against Kremlin critics and others ‘who irritate the authorities’.
© Daily Mail, London
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