Press Release, 24.03.2023

Photo: Alexander Shishlov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

A basis for Russia’s cardinal civilizational U-turn and the country’s leaving the mainstream development of human civilization is being created in Russia. Such a statement was made by Alexander Shishlov, head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and the former Commissioner for Human Rights in St. Petersburg, at the plenary session of the 9th International Conference “Human Rights Activities in Modern Russia: Problems and Their Solutions” which took place on Thursday, 23 March.

“The past year showed that the country is facing an existential challenge – not a military one, but a civilisational one. A basis is being created for a cardinal civilisational U-turn, Russia’s leaving the mainstream of development of human civilisation. The country openly declares that it refuses to develop the state and society on the basis of European values that have become universal, as well as the priority of rights and freedoms accepted (by the whole world, and not just by the West!) after the Second World War. The Stalinist state is being reproduced at an accelerated pace with its main feature – the priority of the state over the person,” Alexander Shishlov said.

Shishlov also noted that the government is trying to build a new Russian state ideology on the fact that “the doctrine of human rights is used to destroy the sovereignty of states, justify Western political, financial, economic and ideological domination” (these are the words of President Vladimir Putin at the recent meeting of the Russian Human Rights Council). The demonstrative denunciation of the conventions of the Council of Europe, the rejection of the principles of the Bologna process of creating a common European space of higher education, the course towards the ideological education of young people from early childhood – all these are the integral parts of the course towards a civilisational U-turn in Russia.

“Christian values and universal moral principles are being replaced by revanchist and imperialist declarations. This is an attempt to pull Russia out of European civilisation, and impose on the new generations of Russians some kind of postmodern fantasies that have nothing to do with the history and culture of our country,” the head of the Yabloko faction noted.

Russia is breaking up with the Western world. At the same time, Western sanctions only deepen the gap. Shishlov also noted that for more than a year the state machine had been fulfilling military tasks, the economy was increasingly transferred to serve military needs, and people were adapting to a decrease in the living standards and quality of life, partial mobilisation and new conditions, when disagreement with the decisions of the authorities can lead to problems up to a criminal case for expressing one’s opinion.

Thus, 152 criminal cases were initiated in 2022 under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code (“discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”), 53 cases were sent to court, 16 sentences have already been made; and  187 criminal cases were initiated under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (“fakes”) and files against 67 persons were sent to courts. In addition, more than 6,000 cases of an administrative offense under Article 20.3.3 (“discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”) of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the RF were initiated throughout the country.

“The law virtually ceases to operate when it comes to such cases. Even my personal experience demonstrates this. I invite all those who doubt this the relevant court hearings. It will not be an exaggeration if I say that all this is not just a degradation of law. We are talking about the danger of degradation and degeneration of society, which is deprived of information about the world around us,” Shishlov noted in his report.