There are more criminal penalties for discrediting the army, and fewer administrative ones

Amendments to the Criminal and Administrative Codes, adopted in connection with the start of a special military operation, are in full force, as follows from judicial statistics for the first half of the year. People began to be sent to jail for discrediting the armed forces (until now they were only fined), and more sentences were handed down for fake news about the army in the first half of 2023 than in the entire last year. At the same time, the number of administrative cases of discrediting has decreased by almost half compared to the same period last year. This can be explained by the fact that the new laws began to work “preemptively,” the expert believes.

In the first six months of 2023, Russian courts convicted 21 people for fake news about the army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), eight of them were sentenced to actual imprisonment and three more were given suspended sentences, reports the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court (ten more were fined). This is more than for the entire last year: then 14 people were convicted for disseminating deliberately false information about the activities of the armed forces, two of whom were sentenced to actual imprisonment.

The article on discrediting the army (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) has also come into force: 15 people have already been convicted under it, two of them were sentenced to imprisonment. Last year, no one was imprisoned for discrediting: in the entire 2022, only three people were convicted of it, but the most severe punishment was a fine. Let us remind you that the article on discrediting presupposes administrative prejudice: criminal punishment occurs only if the violator has already received an administrative punishment within a year before under a similar provision of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code). Since the sanction was introduced only last year, it took law enforcement officers some time to master the new practice. It is noteworthy that this article of the Code of Administrative Offenses was used most actively at the beginning of 2022: in the first half of the year, the courts reviewed 2,953 protocols and punished 2,505 people for 85.7 million rubles. By the end of the year, 4,440 people had already been brought to justice for discrediting, but at the beginning of 2023, administrative cases to discredit the army were initiated almost half as often: in the first half of the year, the courts reviewed only 1,690 protocols and brought to justice 1,308 people. In addition to ordinary citizens, those punished included three legal entities, two entrepreneurs and six officials. The violators were fined 42.7 million rubles, this amount is also more than two times lower than for the same period of the previous year.

In fact, in the future, the increase in the number of sentences in such cases will be even more noticeable, warns lawyer Stanislav Seleznev: now numerous processes that began back in 2022 are coming to an end, and by the end of the year the total number of sentences in cases of fakes may exceed a hundred. Cases of discrediting the army promise to show an even sharper increase – more than a hundred of them have already been initiated, and the investigation into them is proceeding faster, the lawyer notes. As for the reduction in the number of administrative cases, we can conclude that the cooling effect that the authorities sought is evident: people stop speaking out publicly, states Mr. Seleznev.

Prosecutions were also less active this year for displaying prohibited symbols and inciting hatred (Articles 20.3 and 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the Judicial Department combines these data) – 2,690 reports and 2,399 fines, while a year earlier there were 3,386 and 2,690, respectively. An unexpected change occurred in the practice of applying Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for a violent change of the constitutional system): the number of those prosecuted under it this year has decreased compared to the same period last year from 161 convicted to 149. Although over the past years this article has not only been one of the most widely used in in relation to public statements, but also showed steady growth.

But a large increase was recorded in relation to sentences in cases of justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). If in the first half of 2022 there were 126 of these, now there are already 167. Compared to the norm prosecuting calls for extremism, the counter-terrorism article is more stringent, recalls lawyer Seleznev: the sanctions are higher, a suspended sentence cannot be imposed, and release on parole possible only after serving three quarters of the assigned term.

Finally, the number of sentences for treason has more than tripled: if in the first half of last year there were only four (and in one case the sentence was suspended), then this year there are already 15, all sentences are real.

Leonid Golovko, head of the Department of Criminal Procedure at Moscow State University, considers it logical that the situation surrounding the special operation in Ukraine is reflected in social processes. From this point of view, it can be assumed that more attention was paid to extremism in peacetime, but now it has turned out to be less significant, the expert argues: both radically minded citizens and law enforcement officers have switched to other issues. As for the increase in verdicts justifying terrorism, this may be due to the increasing frequency of similar events – such as the murder of Daria Dugina, the bombing of the Crimean Bridge, or the arrival of drones in Moscow. All of them are interpreted as terrorist attacks, Mr. Golovko recalls, and therefore, any approving statements could be qualified as approval of terrorism. In turn, the reduction in the number of administrative protocols to discredit the army can be explained by the preventive effect of the law – after all, ideally the law should work proactively, the lawyer emphasizes. In his opinion, it takes time for society to adapt to prohibitions, and then everyone approximately understands the limits of what is permitted and no longer goes beyond them.

Anastasia Kornya