HRW publishes list of Russia free speech suppression instances in wake of Ukraine war News
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HRW publishes list of Russia free speech suppression instances in wake of Ukraine war

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday published a catalog of citizen actions that have triggered criminal charges and administrative penalties in Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly cracked down on free speech rights; in the first few weeks following the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian authorities arrested over 5,000 anti-war protesters. The arrests were piled on top of newly passed censorship laws, which criminalize public dissemination of “deliberately misleading information” and “discrediting the use of Russian Federation Armed Forces.”

Free speech activists, in conjunction with HRW, have tracked the progression of Russia’s efforts to suppress speech in response to the war in Ukraine. As a result of Russia’s new censorship laws, authorities have launched at least 70 criminal cases. The censorship laws have also prompted hundreds of administrative cases.

In the midst of this crackdown, HRW compiled a list of examples of “legitimate, peaceful speech or actions” that have resulted in charges or penalties. The examples detail charges brought against Russian individuals including the date, location, name of the individual, penalty, and circumstances surrounding the charges.

Among the examples are wearing a blue and yellow, replacing price tags in supermarkets with anti-war leaflets, commenting on the war on social media, criticizing the war in private, displaying the word “self-censorship” in public, displaying the phrases “no war” or “for peace” in public, displaying a blank poster in public, public speeches regarding the war, and taking down “Z” pro-war banners.