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12 Id. at art. 19; U.N. Human Rights Comm., General
Comment No. 34, Article 19: Freedoms of Opinion
and Expression 11-12, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/GC/34
(September 12, 2011) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/
bodies/hrc/docs/gc34.pdf.
13 General Comment No. 34 at 11.
14 Resolution 59(1), Calling of an International
Conference on Freedom of Information, (Dec. 14,
1946); UDHR, Art. 19.
15 ICCPR at art. 19 (3) (restrictions on freedom
of expression are limited to situations which implicate
the rights of others or for the protection of national
security, public order, public health, or morals); General
Comment No. 34 at 21. See also Art. 10(2) of
the ECHR.
16 Id.
17 General Comment No. 34 at 27-35.
18 See generally Revelations from the Russian Archives:
Internal Workings of the Soviet Union, Library of Congress
(1996), http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/ackn.html;
Tatyana Beschastna, Freedom of Expression in Russia as it
Relates to Criticism of the Government, Emory International
Law Review, http://law.emory.edu/eilr/content/
volume-27/issue-2/comments/freedom-expression-russia.html;
2014 Human Rights Reports: Russia, U.S. Department
of State (June 25, 2015), available at: http://
www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2014/eur/236570.htm.
19 Уголовный кодекс Российской Федерации
от 13.06.1996 N 63-ФЗ (ред. от 13.07.2015, с изм. от
16.07.2015) (с изм. и доп., вступ. в силу с 25.07.2015).
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 282
available at: http://base.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc;base=LAW;n=191695;fld=134;fr
om=174173-5303;rnd=184768.692155956972572
;;ts=01847682630170965376595. Harsher penalties
apply when these actions are committed with application
of force or threat, by a person who used his/her
professional status or by an organized group. Id.
20 E-mail from Nabi Abdullaev, dated November
15, 2015 [On file with the author].
21 Id.; Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,
Art. 282, part 1.
22 The changes outlawed “public, online calls
aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian
Federation.” Tanya Lokshina, Dispatches: Russia,
Crimea, and the Shrinking Space for Free Speech, Human
Rights Watch (September 18, 2015), https://www.hrw.
org/news/2015/09/18/dispatches-russia-crimea-andshrinking-space-free-speech.
See also Peter Roudik, Legal
Provisions on Fighting Extremism: Russia, Library of Congress
(April 2014), http://www.loc.gov/law/help/fighting-extremism/russia.php#_ftn28;
Maria Kravchenko,
Inappropriate Enforcement of Anti-Extremist Legislation
in Russia in 2013, SOVA Center for Information and
Analysis (June 4, 2014), http://www.sova-center.ru/
en/misuse/reports-analyses/2014/06/d29660/. The
maximum penalty for incitement to violation of territorial
integrity of Russia is four years’ imprisonment,
and for calling for separation in the media is up to give
years in prison. Федеральный закон от 28.06.2014
№ 179-ФЗ “О внесении изменений в отдельные
законодательные акты Российской Федерации”
[Federal Law # 179-FZ about Amendments of Separate
Acts of Law of the Russian Federation], available
at: http://pravo.gov.ru:8080/page.aspx?108790.
23 Федеральный закон от 29.12.2010 г. № 436-ФЗ
О защите детей от информации, причиняющей
вред их здоровью и развитию, [Federal Law # 436-
FZ about Protection of Children from Information
Harmful to Their Health and Development] available
at: http://kremlin.ru/acts/bank/32492. The law was
passed by the Duma in December 2010 and signed by
then-President Medvedev in January 2011.
24 Telephone interview with Masha Gessen, dated
September 22, 2015.
25 Note of the State Legal Department, Kremlin,
January 3, 2011. The law itself is divided into sections;
Art. 5 of the law discusses “types of information harmful
to the health and/or development of children.” According
to the Kremlin legal note explaining the law,
given the “contemporary development of mass communications
and information technology parents and
teachers are not able to protect children sufficiently
from negative information and information that may
be harmful to their health.” The statement goes on to
explain that the law does not intend to shield children
from all problems or to “create the illusion that there is
no evil, violence, or death.” However, according to the
Kremlin, it is vital to present information to children
when they are capable of understanding and accepting
it, and in age-appropriate ways: “For example, it is possible
to tell even young children about violence, though
while expressing empathy to the victims and in such a
way that, in the end, good necessarily triumphs over
evil.” Law is signed aimed at the protection of children from
negative and harmful information: the President has signed
Federal Law ‘On the protection of children from information
DISCOURSE IN DANGER: ATTACKS ON FREE EXPRESSION IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA 33