Quote for the Week. Andrei Soldatov: “Now, it is enough simply to show that the person had been in communication with an ‘international or foreign organization’ to be suspected of high treason.”

Week-ending 17 July 2020

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Andrei Soldatov: ‘When the Federal Security Service (FSB) requested in September 2012 that the State Duma stiffen the article on high treason in the Russian Criminal Code, everyone understood what the agency was after. […] The FSB got what it wanted. The revised version of Article 275 of the Criminal Code expanded the range of the usual suspects for high treason from military personnel, scientists and researchers to include experts and journalists. […] The new version of the law does not require the FSB to catch someone spying for a foreign government and identify the intelligence service with which the suspect was allegedly collaborating. Now, it is enough simply to show that the person had been in communication with an “international or foreign organization” to be suspected of high treason.’

Source:

Safronov’s Arrest Is a New Low for Freedom of Speech in Russia

By Andrei Soldatov

When the Federal Security Service (FSB) requested in September 2012 that the State Duma stiffen the article on high treason in the Russian Criminal Code, everyone understood what the agency was after. […]

The Moscow Times, 8 July 2020

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