Weekly Update

Read our selection of the past week’s news: Rights in Russia week-ending 10 April 2020
Listen to our latest podcast [in Russian]; our guest this week is Nadezhda Azhgikhina, executive director of the Moscow PEN Centre and a leading expert on media rights in Russia: Simon & Sergei: Human rights in Russia – with Nadezhda Azhgikhina – You can find these podcasts on Podcasts.com, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.

‘The word “post-law” has no chance of competing with “self-isolation” or “covidiot” for the title of the Oxford Dictionary’s 2020 Word of the Year, but there is every chance of it becoming the word of the next 16 years for the Russian legal community.’ – Tatyana Glushkova considers the Russian legal system in the light of official reactions to the coronavirus pandemic. Translated by Marian Schwartz

‘The law enforcement agencies have started actively using an article in the Criminal Code about the dissemination of fake news in connection with the epidemic. The authorities have been proactive in pressing criminal charges, including one case regarding a satirical sketch on conspiracy theories.’ – OVD-Info in its Weekly Bulletin includes news about prosecution for ‘fake news’ regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Translated by Judith Fagelson 

‘The protests about the Moscow City Duma elections were over by the end of the autumn, but there is no certainty that arrests have yet ended.’   – Activist Andrey Kazantsev looks at the Moscow Case in an article written in English by the author. 

‘My opinion is that the moment to declare a statutory, rather than a “hybrid,” amnesty has not yet passed; it would be an act of political will.’ – Leonid Nikitinsky urges a need for an amnesty for prisoners due to the coronavirus.  Translated by Anna Bowles, Joanne Reynolds and Nicky Brown     

‘It’s urgent that prisons and prison colonies be emptied, because the virus is already inside.’ – Zoya Svetova on the need to release prisoners in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. Translated by Alice Lee, Nina dePalma and Mercedes Malcomson

‘As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, prisoners are being released in Europe, the United States, Afghanistan and Iran. […] But what about in Russia?’ – Olga Romanova urges the release of prisoners because of the coronavirus. Translated by James Lofthouse

‘[…] as coronavirus figures in Russia shot up, the government finally mobilised… but not against the virus at all, it seems. For some reason, it started to fight the people.’  – Tanya Torocheshnikova for Team 29 takes a look at how the authorities are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic. Translated by Lindsay Munford