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Boundless measures: foreigners will be able to be tried for crimes against our compatriots
Russian law enforcers will have the right to investigate crimes committed abroad against our compatriots, even if they do not have Russian citizenship. Such amendments to the Criminal Code have been supported by the government, Izvestiya found out. If they are adopted, lawyers explained, criminal prosecution by Russia may threaten, for example, Latvian civil servants for discrimination against Russian-speaking citizens of Latvia - natives of the USSR. Now such a criminal case cannot be initiated in Russia. Experts pointed out that although the mechanism is useful, it is extremely difficult to implement in practice. In addition, the Criminal Code is planned to introduce a new offense of Russophobia, which affects not only Russian citizens abroad, but also natives of our country living there.
New measure of protection of compatriots abroad
If on the territory of a foreign country a foreign citizen commits a crime against our compatriot (even if the victim does not have Russian citizenship), Russian investigators will be able to initiate criminal proceedings on these facts and prosecute the criminals. The government has given a positive response to the bill on the relevant amendments to the Criminal Code, although it noted that it needs some revision. The document is at the disposal of Izvestia.
Currently, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (namely, part 3 of Article 12) provides that punishment is threatened only in the case of crimes against Russia or its citizens. If the amendments to this article of the Criminal Code are adopted, the list will be extended to compatriots who do not have Russian citizenship.
Compatriots, according to Russian legislation, include, in particular:
- Russian citizens permanently residing abroad;
- people who have previously renounced Russian citizenship;
- persons born or permanently residing on the territory of the RSFSR who previously held citizenship of the USSR;
- persons who have relatives who were born or resided on the territory of the RSFSR, the Russian Empire or the USSR.
The developers of the bill were Irina Yarovaya, vice-speaker of the State Duma, and Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption.
The document also amends Article 247 of the CPC, which contains the procedure for the participation of the accused in court proceedings. It wants to supplement it with a provision that will make it possible to hold criminal trials for a number of crimes of small and medium gravity in the absence of the defendant, if he is outside Russia. Now it is possible only in criminal cases of grave and especially grave crimes.
This change will allow to provide protection measures in high-profile cases, when destroyed or damaged military graves, monuments, steles, obelisks and other memorial structures or objects perpetuating the memory of those who died in defense of the Fatherland, is noted in the explanatory note to the bill.
A new article - 136.1 ("Russophobia") - is proposed to be introduced separately in the Criminal Code. It should be punished for discriminatory actions committed outside the Russian Federation by foreigners (including officials) against both Russians and stateless compatriots. Its list of sanctions includes, in particular, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.
The government's response notes that this "may entail difficulties in the implementation of this provision in practice, taking into account the specifics of the subject of the crime of the projected norm".
Why it is important to introduce prosecution for Russophobia
Chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Mediators Vladimir Kuznetsov explained that the composition of the article "Russophobia" is a type of another offense, namely incitement of hatred or enmity on ethnic grounds. However, Russophobia has its own peculiarities. For example, it is also a dislike of people for their ties to Russia.
- How the projected norm will work in practice, we cannot give a definite answer yet," he said. - But it can be assumed that once on the territory of the Russian Federation, a person who has committed an act of Russophobia abroad can be held criminally liable in Russia.
In the last few years, cases of Russophobia abroad have become more frequent, said criminal defense lawyer Maxim Kalinov.
- And this really cannot be left unattended," he believes. - There should be no difficulties in the implementation of new measures of defense and prosecution of the perpetrators, because cases can be considered in absentia. But even if a case cannot be considered, there are still levers of pressure, for example, the announcement of an international wanted list.
However, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted a change in the trend.
- If immediately after February 2022 there were many appeals to our lawyers abroad from compatriots with complaints of threats and insults, now the number of such messages has significantly decreased. And the most frequent issues are the registration of Russian citizenship, divorces, determining the place of residence of children," he explained.
Against whom the new bill is directed
Kirill Vyshinsky, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, told about the development of the bill back in December 2023. In the Telegram-channel of the Council, he noted that the bill was developed on the instructions of the President, which he gave in 2022.
"We are talking about the introduction of a new legal norm in the Criminal Code, in the foreseeable future the bill will be adopted by the State Duma. Today, Russophobia abroad has turned from a phenomenon, as it seemed to us here at first, private into a mass phenomenon," he noted.
As examples, Latvia expelled Russian-speaking people who did not have Russian citizenship, closed accounts and confiscated cars of compatriots in Germany. The process of drafting the document "was quite lengthy" and there were "serious discussions among lawyers," noted Kirill Vyshinsky.
However, there are risks in the adoption of the amendments, according to the State Duma. One of them is the following: if Russian law enforcement agencies start bringing such cases, the life of compatriots abroad may become more complicated, says Yury Sinelshchikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation.
- It will be difficult for Russia to implement their defense," he said. - A case can be brought, of course, but what then? Should we put it on the shelf?
So, the deputy noted, there are questions to the practical side of the application of these amendments.
But Latvian human rights activist Alvis Pilags, speaking to Izvestia, called the amendments correct and necessary.
- Theyhave finally decided to take certain legal steps, " he emphasized. - This is a symmetrical response to everything that has happened. Nobody now wants to solve problems in a legally correct form. While the institution of actions against a certain category of Latvian citizens is inhumane.
According to him, the amendments will work in the following way: a criminal case is initiated, and if the suspect is abroad, a corresponding request will be sent within the framework of international law.
