Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The Russian authorities appear to be regretting recently passing a law that makes criticism of the Wagner Group a criminal offence. Thousands of Russians, likely including Vladimir Putin himself, are now theoretically subject to criminal charges attracting years in jail. ⬇️

3/ Speaker of the Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin introduced new legislation to allow prosecutions for "fakes" and "discrediting" "volunteer formations, organizations or persons assisting in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".

4/ It increased punishments from three to five years' imprisonment for "fake information" and from five to seven years for "discrediting". The offences are increased to "medium gravity" (roughly equivalent to an upgrade from a misdemenour to a felony).

5/ As the State Duma is effectively a Putin-controlled rubber stamp, the new legislation was duly passed in March. But there's just one problem: Wagner are now officially regarded as bad guys, as State Duma Deputy Chairman Vladislav Davankov has pointed out:

6/ "If left unchanged [the norms of the law], thousands of Russians could be jailed for 15 years for expressing a civil position on the actions of the PMC [Private Military Company] leadership after Saturday's events. Would that be reasonable and fair? Of course not.

7/ "There should be a moratorium on prosecuting under this article, at least for public opinions about the actions of PMCs and the armed forces outside the combat zone." /end

Source:
t.me/astrapress/310…