Russian authorities continue to use anti-terrorism laws to justify domestic repression.
On February 1, experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) write about this in the next code.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Central Military District Court found Vladislav Borisenko guilty of committing a terrorist act and sentenced him to 12 years in prison for participating in an attack on a military enlistment office in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug in May 2022.
This is the first time that the perpetrator of the attack on the military registration and enlistment office was formally charged with committing a terrorist act.
The apparent toughening of charges for such incidents indicates that the Russian judiciary is seeking to apply harsher penalties for acts of domestic disagreement with the continuation of the war in Ukraine, as ISW analysts have previously noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a decree simplifying the process of issuing warnings regarding the terrorist threat in Russia. It allows regions to enter an increased level of terrorist threat for an indefinite period, which is currently limited to 15 days.
The new decree will allow Russian regions where the “yellow level” of the terrorist threat (Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions) operate to stop and inspect vehicles at administrative borders for the presence of weapons and explosives, which was previously allowed only in the “red level” regions.
The ongoing legislative manipulation of the legal concept of “terrorism” allows the authorities to expand the possibilities for suppressing internal dissent and any activity that they consider to be contrary to Russian interests, according to ISW.
Source: Racurs
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