Legal protection of regional anticorruptioners

conducting civil control in Russia

Project Aim — legal protection of regional anticorruptioners (civil activists, regional and municipal deputies) who are subjected to unlawful criminal and other persecution by corrupted officials, law enforcement officers and judges as well as amendment of legislation and of law enforcement practice in Russia in order to develop tools to protect anticorruptioners.

Project Motto: Human rights defence for human rights defenders !

Project Objectives                                                               

1.) Legal protection of regional anticorruptioners who are subjected to unlawful criminal and other persecution by corrupted officials, law enforcement officers and judges.

2.) Initiation of objective considering statements of regional anticorruptioners on corruption offenses.

3.) Amendment of legislation and of law enforcement practice in Russia using federal and international legal tools in order to prevent unlawful criminal and other persecution of regional anticorruptioners.

4.) Development of effective tools to protect regional anticorruptioners from unlawful criminal and other persecution in order to force to stop anti-corruption activities.

Project Tools

1.Procedural documents (expert analysis) for using by defence lawyers during investigation and judicial examination.

2.Non-procedural documents (expert analysis, appeals to the federal authorities and international organizations, articles) in favor of regional anticorruptioners and with proposals for objective consideration of statements on corruption offenses.

3.Proposals to amend legislation and law enforcement practice in Russia.

4.Proposals to establish institutional tools to protect regional anticorruptioners.

The project is implemented on the basis of the following projects:

1.) The federal anti-corruption project «Addressing the corruption risks by amending legislation and law enforcement practice on the basis of modeling the corruption mechanisms» under the project funded by grantoperator “Civil Dignity”;

2.) The legal expertise of the case of prosecution of the Kursk Regional Parliament deputy Olga Li in connection with the appeal «Following the President’s inaction counteraction will follow» of March 4, 2016 expressed for executing deputy duties to protect voters’ rights due to exhaustion of remedies.

Project methodology

The methodology is based on process modeling as tool of visualization and of detailed study of the processes (activities and events).

The base of the model is the legal structure of crime (object, subject, subjective side, objective side) adjusted for corruption offenses.

In case of illegal civil and administrative prosecution of anticorruptioners structure of the model will be adopted to suit  their methodology and terminology.

The following models will be developed:

— static model (structure of offense);

— dynamic model (sequence of offense actions).

Modeling will be used to justify:

-version of anticorruptioner’s innocence and illegality of criminal prosecution by restoring the sequence of actions and events (anticorruptioner’s activities to prosecute corrupted officials — illegal criminal persecution of anticorruptioner in order to stop anti-corruption activities);

-necessity of objective considering statements of regional anticorruptioners on corruption offenses by restoring criminal activities of corruptioners on the basis of their detailed qualification in accordance with the criminal law.

 

1. Project Actuality

 In spite of state anti-corruption policy carried out in Russia, the situation is very difficult.

By analyzing the operational information and data from different sources, it can be argued that there are a number of organized criminal groups consisting of officials, law enforcement officers and judges in most regions of Russia.

Suppression of criminal groups led by regional heads in the Sakhalin region and the Komi Republic is an exception from other corruption cases at regional level.

In the absence of systematic work, it looks like temporary campaign. Regional corruptioners may have support of high-ranking federal officials in Moscow.

There are 2 main types of subjects of state anti-corruption policy:

-state bodies (law enforcement agencies, supervisory and oversight bodies, the judiciary);

-civil society institutions (civil activists) and representatives of voters’ interests (regional and municipal deputies) involved in anti-corruption activities and have limited powers.

In the case of functioning of organized criminal group consisting of officials, law enforcement officers and judges in region, civil activists, regional and municipal deputies are often the only persons who can resist corruption.

Taking into account the need to respect subordination, honest and principled officials, law enforcement officials, judges often can not resist the corruption crimes of their commanders and supervisors.

Therefore, civil society play key roles in combating corruption.

However, the efforts of civil society activists often become ineffective because in Russia there is no effective system for handling citizens’ complaints and addressing violations by public authorities, law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The mechanism for considering citizens’ complaints is that in the majority of cases reports of corruption crimes are returned to the same level, that is, in fact to the same corruptioners.

Thus, exhaustion of remedies occurs, when federal government, law enforcement and judicial authorities refuse to consider citizens’ complaints on human rights violations substantially in the form of submitting unmotivated come-offs as well as redirecting them to the same offenders at regional level.

In order to suppress regional anticorruptioners, corruptioners (officials, law enforcement officers and judges) illegally open criminal cases against anticorruptioners.

This leads to the following negative consequences:

-unlawful criminal persecution of regional anticorruptioners;

-formation of organized criminal groups led by regional heads and consisting of officials, law enforcement officers and judges.

To eliminate them, we must:

-protect regional anticorruptioners and achieve objective consideration of statements on corruption offenses;

-amend legislation and law enforcement practice in Russia, establish effective tools to protect regional anticorruptioners.

 

2. Project activities

The project is implemented through the following specific activities.

1. Assistance to regional anticorruptioners

1.1. Analysis of specific cases against anticorruptioners to identify illegal persecution related to professional activities.

1.2. Development of procedural documents (expert analysis) for using by defence lawyers during the investigation and judicial examination.

Development of non-procedural documents (expert analysis, appeals to the federal authorities and international organizations, articles) in favor of regional anticorruptioners and with proposals for objective consideration of appeals on corruption offenses.

2. Improvement of public policies

2.1. Development of proposals to amend legislation and law enforcement practice in Russia using federal and international legal tools in order to prevent unlawful criminal and other persecution of regional anticorruptioners.

2.2. Development of proposals to establish institutional mechanisms to protect regional anticorruptioners from unlawful criminal and other persecution in order to force to stop anti-corruption activities.

At the moment, the main case of the Project is the case of the Kursk Regional Parliament deputy Olga Li.

Within the framework of the project part «Assistance to regional anticorruptioners», the following documents in russian were developed and presented.

1. The legal expertise of the case of prosecution of the Kursk Regional Parliament deputy Olga Li in connection with the appeal «Following the President’s inaction counteraction will follow» of March 4, 2016 expressed for executing deputy duties to protect voters’ rights due to exhaustion of remedies.

http://yakutian.org/delo_k_1.htm

2. Appeal on the case of prosecution of the Kursk Regional Parliament deputy Olga Li in connection with the appeal «Following the President’s inaction counteraction will follow» of March 4, 2016 expressed for executing deputy duties to protect voters’ rights due to exhaustion of remedies to:

-President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin;

-General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation;

-Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

http://yakutian.org/delo_k_2.htm

3. Article «Chief of NGO Yakutia — Our Opinion Stepan Petrov: the Kursk Regional Parliament deputy Olga Li have to be held responsible !»

http://yakutian.org/delo_k_3.htm

 

Web information on the case of Olga Li

1.Russian Regional Lawmaker Who Criticized Putin Targeted In Hate-Speech Probe

http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kursk-olga-li-putin-criticism-hate-speech/27649182.html

2.The woman who challenged Putin

http://www.eastonline.eu/en/opinions/riding-the-russian-rollercoaster/the-woman-who-challenged-putin

3. MEET OLGA LI, THE SINGLE MOTHER OF TWO TAKING ON PUTIN

http://europe.newsweek.com/meet-olga-li-single-mother-two-taking-putin-446953?rm=eu

4.Opened Against Regional Deputy For Video Criticizing Putin

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/criminal-case-opened-against-regional-deputy-for-video-criticizing-putin-52361

5.Person-of-the-week/olgali

http://www.rightsinrussia.info/person-of-the-week/olgali

6.’Hate Speech’ Investigation: Russian politician faces ‘hate speech’ probe after criticising Putin

https://video.meta.ua/8275908.video

7.Russian politician faces ‘hate speech’ probe after criticising Putin

http://uatoday.tv/politics/russian-politician-paces-hate-speech-probe-after-criticising-putin-626736.html

It is also planned to model:

-the sequence of events (actions) according to version of Li’s innocence in order to prove illegality of her criminal persecution;

-the main crimes of Kursk corruptioners to initiate objective consideration of reports on corruption offenses.

Within the framework of the project part «Improvement of public policies «, proposals on amending the criminal legislation and the federal act on combating extremist activities will be developed.

I propose to take into account the following when law enforcement agencies decide to persecute subjects of the state anti-corruption policy(civil activists, regional and municipal deputies, other persons involved in anti-corruption activities).

1. In order to meet the principles of legality and of objectivity, to initiate criminal cases involving extremism only after thorough checking reports on corruption offenses and identifying their unreliability.

2. in order to prevent incorrect legal qualification of actions:

-to establish all circumstances of the case and true motives, taking into account anti-corruption activity of the persons actions of whom are checked in the context of identifying the interest of law enforcement officers in the illegal criminal prosecution;

-to abide by recommendations of the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No.11 of June 28, 2011, in particular, recommendations on

(1) inadmissibility of putting to expert with no legal education legal questions in areas outside his competence and associated with assessment of actions,

(2) inadmissibility of putting to expert questions on availability of calls for extremist activities, information orientation inciting hatred or enmity, that is, questions with obvious accusatory manner containing the dispositions of article 282 of the Criminal Code and in the case of a positive answer to that the unique qualification of acts under this article comes.

-introduce in criminal law unambiguous definition of the term «social group».           

 

4. Eligibility criteria

for legal protection of anticorruptioners

 

Eligibility criteria

The main conditions for legal protection of anticorruptioners are:

-confirmation anti-corruption activities;

-availability of results of anti-corruption activities;

-availability of conflict with corrupted officials, law enforcement officers and judges;

-availability of direct and indirect personal interest of law enforcement officers in illegal criminal prosecution.

Given the complexity of anti-corruption activity, final decision on accepting a case will be made individually.

 

Types of illegal persecution of anticorruptioners

Illegal persecution of anticorruptioners can be carried out in the framework of criminal, civil, administrative and other legislation.

Here are the main articles of various laws on which the corruptioners can persecute anticorruptioners:

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

-Article 280. Public Appeals for the Performance of Extremist Activity;

-Article 282. Incitement of Hatred or Enmity, as Well as Abasement of Human Dignity;

-Article 275. High Treason;

-Article 286. Exceeding Official Powers;

The Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation

-Article 5.61. Insult;

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation

— Article 152. Protection of the Honour, Dignity and Business Reputation.

Corruptioners can also press false charges of fraud, possession of illegal substances and other crimes against anticorruptioners.

In addition, corruptioners can force anticorruptioners’ colleagues and partners to participate in illegal criminal prosecution by means of threats, blackmail or bribery.

In general, given the opportunities of organized criminal groups consisting of corrupted officials, law enforcement officers and judges, illegal criminal and other prosecution can be arranged for any reason.

Therefore individual approach to each case will be implemented.