Russia passes law to jail people for 15 days for 'disrespecting' government

Russia’s parliament has approved a controversial law that allows courts to jail people for online “disrespect” of government or state officials, including the president, Vladimir Putin.

The law, which critics say is reminiscent of Soviet-era legislation used to target political dissidents, stipulates fines of up to 100,000 roubles (£1,155) for “indecent” online posts that demonstrate a “blatant disrespect for society, the country, Russia’s official state symbols, the constitution, or the authorities”.

Repeat offenders can be hit with fines of up to twice this sum, or 15 days behind bars.

Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of the Moscow-based Sova Centre, which monitors abuse of anti-extremism legislation, said people could face prosecution for online comments such as “Putin is a bastard”, or jokes about parliament. Others expressed concern that the law was so vaguely worded that almost any online criticism of the authorities, including satirical memes, could be construed as “disrespect”.

“Soon we’ll be telling jokes about the authorities in whispers in the kitchen,” Sergey Shvakin, a Moscow-based lawyer, wrote on Facebook.

The law, which was authored by Andrei Klishas, a senator from Putin’s ruling United Russia party, was criticised by some MPs and government officials. “One of the tasks of government bodies is to calmly hear out criticism of its work,” Alexei Volin, the deputy communications minister, told the Vedomosti newspaper.

“If we stop calling a fool a fool, he won’t stop being a fool,” said Sergei Ivanov, an MP with the nationalist LDPR party, which usually backs the Kremlin on major issues.

Klishas denied the law was a form of censorship and said the authorities were “in and of themselves worthy of respect”. Putin is expected to sign the law into force in the coming weeks.

Lurker wrote:Trump will probably try to do the same in the US. He's the most hated president in history and deservedly so.