Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


         Activists: Russia's Rights Crackdown Reminiscent of Soviet Era

   by Daniel Schearf

   A Russian court for the first time has sentenced an activist to three
   years in prison under a 2014 law for repeatedly protesting without
   permission.

   Amnesty International [1]called for activist Ildar Dadin to be released
   immediately after a judge at Moscow's Basmanny Court issued the
   decision Monday.  The sentence was a year longer than what prosecutors
   were seeking.

   The law allows Russian authorities to hand down criminal sentences of
   up to five years in prison after four unsanctioned demonstrations
   within a six-month period.

   Amnesty called Dadin's jailing a "shocking and cynical attack on
   freedom of expression" using "draconian law" restricting public
   assemblies.
   Dadin was first detained in 2012 for protesting the conviction of
   anti-government demonstrators.  He was detained several times since and
   placed under house arrest in January after his fourth unsanctioned
   demonstration since 2014.

   Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at
   Amnesty International, told VOA three more people are being
   investigated under the law.  He said they expect another conviction
   pretty soon.  "And, I'm saying we expect [a conviction] because, given
   the state of Russia's criminal justice system and its judiciary, it
   would be a miracle to expect that there would be a fair trial."

   One of the people being investigated is [2]75-year-old Vladimir Ionov,
   who was the first to face criminal charges under the 2014 law, but has
   not yet been sentenced.

   ''Broadcaster targeted

   Dadin's sentencing came the same day Russian prosecutors raided
   independent television station Dozhd (Rain) TV to probe alleged
   concerns of compliance with labor and licensing as well as 'extremism'
   and `terrorism.'

   Rights groups said the raid was an obvious attempt to pressure the
   station, one of the few remaining broadcasters in Russia willing to
   give voice to critics of the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin.

   The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm at
   what it sees as Russia's harassment of Dozhd.
   In 2014, Russian cable providers dropped the channel after pressure
   from authorities over a poll questioning if surrender to the Nazis
   would have been better than the human costs of the 1940s siege of
   Leningrad.

   Despite its limited reach, unlike state broadcasters, Dozhd refuses to
   bow to authorities and often interviews opposition politicians and
   activists.

   ''Soviet era comparisons

   Rights groups say the tightening of restrictions on voices critical of
   the Kremlin is a pattern reminiscent of Soviet times.

   "It seems that the government wants those people who are critical
   toward its policies and practices to voice their criticism solely
   within the confines of their kitchens, just like back in the Soviet
   times, said Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director for Human Rights
   Watch in Moscow.

   "It's a very grim, dramatic situation," she said.  "It seems that the
   government is effectively trying to exterminate independent criticism
   by attacking non-governmental organizations, by attacking independent
   media outlets, by attacking individual critics," Lokshina said.

   Since Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, amid massive
   anti-government protests, Russia has enacted tighter controls on
   freedom of assembly, the press, foreign organizations, and groups that
   receive foreign funding.

   ''`Foreign agents'

   Russian prosecutors in recent months [3]blacklisted three U.S. groups,
   the National Endowment for Democracy, Open Society Foundations, and the
   U.S.-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law,
   under an "undesirables" law.

   More than 100 Russian organizations have been labeled as "foreign
   agents," a term with Soviet-era connotations of spying and accepting
   foreign funding for activities deemed political.  Rights groups say
   many have scaled back operations or closed down because of the label.

   Activists say the crackdown demonstrates Russian authorities' fear of
   greater instability as the country heads into recession, while
   maintaining what is widely seen as direct military support for rebels
   in eastern Ukraine and growing military action in Syria.

   "Russia is heading for tougher times, economically, first of all," says
   Amnesty's Krivosheev.

   "And, it would seem that the government's response would be to expect
   more protests and to preempt it by making it more difficult, and those
   who put their head above the parapet to face very serious reprisals,"
   Krivosheev said.

   "I think that's the government preparing for tougher times ahead," he
   added.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [4]http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-rights-crackdown/3093406.html

References

   1. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/Russia-Peaceful-activist-sentenced-under-repressive-new-law-must-be-released/
   2. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-pensioner-protest-law-five-years-in-jail/26803841.html
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-blacklists-sorors-foundation-as-undesirable/3081645.html
   4. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-rights-crackdown/3093406.html