Those who came out to vote found a shortlist on the ballot: all relevant opposition figures have been jailed, exiled, or denied registration as candidates. Dissent against President Vladimir Putin, the policies of his government, or the war against Ukraine is being brutally repressed through a combination of legal sanctions, including growing use of the anti-extremism law, arrests of protesters, intensified control over internet access, and criminalisation of independent conflict reporting. In Russia today, the Kremlin has a virtual monopoly on truth. And as we have expressed over and over, this erosion of public debate has been ongoing since President Putin took power in 2000. The regime has been continually attacking journalists, civil
society and the media, targeting people it accuses of disseminating ‘fake news’ about Russian armed forces, or ‘discrediting’ those who call for ‘sanctions against the Russian Federation, its citizens or legal entities’. For example, a few weeks into Russia’s full scale invasion in 2022, Alexei Gorinov, a lawyer and former Moscow municipal official, was jailed after he proposed, during a meeting with other city employees, a minute’s silence to show solidarity with ‘the victims of the ongoing military aggression in Ukraine’. He became the first person sentenced under Russia's law restricting criticism of the invasion and remains behind bars, where he suffers from deteriorating health. Likewise, Alsu Kurmasheva, who reported on the hostility that ethnic and religious minorities, including Volga and Crimean Tatars, face, was arrested on 18 October 2023. She is yet to have a trial and the authorities have held her in detention for nearly 6 months. Despite this, her
resilience shines on. ‘Your messages and support get through the jail bars and warm my heart every day. We have so much ahead - we’ll create, we’ll travel, we’ll learn from each other and educate our children. We’ll do that together!' –– Kurmasheva, thanking her supporters, December 2023
Activists and media colleagues continue to raise her case and call for her release. Then, in April 2023, dual British-Russian citizen and key opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza received a 25-year prison sentence and a 7-year ban on journalistic activities. He was arrested in April 2022 after he criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including during an address to the Arizona House of Representatives in the United States. He was charged with disseminating ‘fake news’, treason, and participating in the activities of an ‘undesirable organisation’. And the regime isn’t stopping there. As recently as 12 February, Russian authorities branded ARTICLE 19 an ‘undesirable organisation’, making us the latest in a long line of non-governmental organisations to be branded with this status. This is yet another blunt tool to cut off debate and discussion between people in and outside Russia. It will grossly harm their ability to access, participate in, or hold information that we publish. Not only that, but anyone found with such information can also be challenged in court. In other words, reading this very email could get you arrested! |