Press Release, 15.04.2024

Photo by Anatoly Zhdanov, Kommersant

On 15 April, the Standing Commission of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on Education, Culture and Science approved the initiative of State Duma deputies to amend the law “On Librarianship”. Only the head of the Yabloko faction, Alexander Shishlov, spoke out against it.

State Duma deputies would like to give the Ministry of Culture the powers that will enable it to restrict books by “foreign agents” in libraries. Moreover, the Ministry of Culture must develop these restrictions, up to and including a complete ban on books. Deputies of the State Duma do not regulate the approach in any way.

Thus, it is proposed that the law, which directly states the prohibition of censorship, will simultaneously envisage the possibility of censorship. The Yabloko faction opposes such restrictions. Yabloko deputy Alexander Shishlov attached a special opinion to the decision of the Commission on Education, Culture and Science, in which he called not to support the initiative of State Duma deputies.

“I believe that the bill actually opens up the possibility of introducing political censorship, prohibited by Article 29 Part 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation… Establishing restrictions on access to documents and books in libraries not on the basis of their content, but on the basis of their authorship is politically motivated,” Alexander Shishlov noted.

ALEXANDER SHISHLOV

is head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party, and Chairman of the Yabloko branch in St.Petersburg