Law of the Week

Russia’s government has approved a bill increasing criminal liability for the denial of facts established by the Nuremberg Tribunal, ‘as well as for the public circulation of knowingly false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War.’ 

Source: Human Rights in Ukraine, Thursday, 15 October 2020:

Russia’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a bill increasing criminal liability both for denying the criminal nature of Nazism, and for something termed “spreading false information about the actions of the USSR during the Second World War”.  Since one Russian has already faced prosecution for reposting a text rightly stating that the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939, this new law seems set to stifle discussion about the Second World War.  TASS reported on 7 October that the government’s commission on legislative activities has approved a draft bill proposed by Deputy State Duma Speaker, Iryna Yarovaya.  The latter has already played a major role in Russia’s adoption of repressive and deeply flawed legislation of so-called ‘terrorism’ and ‘extremism’, and has now turned to policing history. The bill is purportedly aimed at increasing measures of criminal liability for the denial of facts established by the Nuremberg Tribunal, “as well as for the public circulation of knowingly false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War”.  It is envisaged that the Russian criminal code will be supplemented to include the above ‘offences’ where carried out on the Internet.

In another legislative development this week, The Moscow Times citing Vedomosti, reported that President Putin wishes to introduce a law to ban the recognition of gay marriages registered outside the country, the Vedomosti business dairsday: ‘A legal loophole in Russia’s family law recognizes same-sex couples who have tied the knot abroad as long as they’re not close relatives or are already married. This led to at least two high-profile cases of Russian clerks unintentionally recognizing gay marriage since 2018.’

Meanwhile, RAPSI reported that the Ministry of Health has drafted recommendations to improve prisoners’ medical treatment following a request from the Presidential Council for Human Rights: ‘Russian human rights advocates often receive complaints about medical care from inmates, including incorrect handling by medical staff of civil hospitals, diagnostic and treatment procedure without anesthetization and carrying out procedures in the presence of students and interns without the consent of convicted patients, according to the statement. The Council’s member Eva Merkacheva accumulated these complaints and forwarded a corresponding request to the Ministry of Health. Deputy Minister of Health Oleg Salagay took a decision to draft recommendations and send them to regions, asking medics to improve the quality of treatment for jailed patients, the statement reads.‘