Insulting the feelings of believers (especially towards Orthodoxy) will now carry a real prison sentence
On Tuesday, September 25, 2012, the State Duma unanimously passed a resolution “On the Protection of the Religious Feelings of Citizens of the Russian Federation.” Under the new law, insulting the religious feelings of believers could result in a real prison sentence—up to three years of deprivation of freedom. A bill will soon be adopted that promises imprisonment for vandalism against religious objects and items of worship.
Novye Izvestia reports that, according to parliamentarians, strict liability must be introduced for insulting the religious feelings of fellow citizens. “It has already reached the point where advertisements are posted on social networks stating how much money they are willing to pay for cutting down a cross, for scribbling inscriptions, for desecrating religious rituals and religious symbols,” said Yaroslav Nilov, chairman of the Duma committee on public associations and religious organizations, indignantly. At present, only Article 214 of the Criminal Code, “Vandalism,” punishes these offenses, providing for a fine of up to 40,000 rubles, or compulsory or corrective labor, or arrest for up to three months (“In the beginning was the word”).
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes that, as Yaroslav Nilov explained, those who insult feelings will be punished by a fine of 200,000 rubles, or corrective labor, or imprisonment for a term of two to four years—depending “on the gravity of the act.” At the same time, according to Nilov, the motivation for the crime will be taken into account: “For example, a person cut down a cross for money. Foolishness and greed deserve a lesser punishment than a deliberate desire to insult believers. Today, if someone spoils the Koran or desecrates an icon, they can get off with a fine of 500 to 1,000 rubles under the Administrative Code. And the article ‘Hooliganism,’ which provides for a prison term, as the trial of Pussy Riot showed, is constantly being attempted to replace with administrative punishment.” The task of the State Duma, Mr. Nilov explained to the newspaper, is “to respond in a timely manner in terms of changing legislation to the demands that the times put before us” (“The Third Millennium. The New ‘Middle Ages’”).
Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that deputies intend to toughen liability for insulting the religious feelings of citizens and for desecrating shrines venerated by believers, and emphasize “the importance of the inevitability of punishment for such actions.” As Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Sergei Zheleznyak told journalists yesterday, “in the very near future” United Russia members, together with members of other factions, will submit to the chamber for consideration the relevant amendments to the existing legal norms. According to Mr. Zheleznyak, “legislation must make it possible to effectively suppress crimes aimed at inciting interreligious tension, including on the Internet” (“Defensive reaction”).
Moskovsky Komsomolets writes that the resolution, introduced on behalf of all four factions, speaks of protecting the feelings of believers of different confessions—while carefully emphasizing the special role of the Russian Orthodox Church in “the formation and development of national spirituality and culture” and as the main object of a campaign unleashed by “destructive forces that glorify antireligious extremism, vandalism, and hooliganism” and “incite hatred in society” toward religious organizations. The evil destructive forces are not named by name. Instead, there is talk of the need to toughen liability for desecrating shrines venerated by believers and to step up work on “religious education of society”—with the aim of “strengthening civil peace and concord” (“Duma supported the feelings of believers without discussion”).
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