A campaign (the "Kagarlitsky Amendments") is under way in Russia to amend Kremlin legislation under which Boris Kagarlitsky has been jailed for five years.
On July 26, as part of the promotion and formalisation of the legislative initiative to amend Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation--under which Boris Kagarlitsky was found guilty of "justifying terrorism"--his lawyer Sergei Erekhov took up the issue with the Chairman of the New People party, A.G. Nechaev.
(See below for text of Article 205.2)
Erekhov explained the move on his Telegram channel: "Despite the fact that the 'Kagarlitsky Amendments' are a non-political initiative, only deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation or other persons named in Article 104 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation can submit it for consideration by parliament.
"I decided to turn to the New People party, since those who pin their hopes on reforming the legislation of the Russian Federation voted for it in the past federal and regional elections."
In his letter to New Party leader Nechaev, Erekhov comments that "in the course of my work on the case [of Boris Kagarlitsky], I came to the conclusion that the wording of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is somewhat ambiguous and the sanctions are excessively 'severe'. I believe that Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation needs to be 'humanised' in the light of a number of convictions, taking into account a number of sentences against public figures, journalists, representatives of the creative intelligentsia, as well as citizens."
Erekhov states that he has formulated a number of specific proposals for amendments to Article 205.2 and asks New People party leader Nechaev, if convinced by the strength of Erekhov's argumentation after meeting him privately, "to create an expert group under my leadership to amend Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation".
Erekhov concludes his note with a commitment to keep people informed of the course of this initiative, and asks if anyone has any suggestions or comments to make write to him at kagarlitsky205.2@mail.ru.
Sergei Erekhov's social network details (in Russian):
VKontakte page: V&rz://UK.sot/egdeige
Telegram channel: Prz:/I.te/egdeige
Article 205.2. Public Calls for Committing of Terrorist Activity or Public Justification of Terrorism
1. Public calls for the commission of terrorist activity or public justification of terrorism shall be punishable with a fine of up to five hundred thousand roubles or to the amount of a wage or other income of the convicted person for the period up to three years, or with compulsory labour for a term of up to four years, or with deprivation of liberty for a term of two to five years.
2. The same acts committed through the use of the mass media shall be punishable with a fine of three hundred thousand roubles to one million roubles or to the amount of the convicted person's wage or other income for the period of three to five years, or with compulsory labour for a term of up to five years, with deprivation of the right to hold specific offices or engage in specified activities for a term of up to five years or, in the absence of such measures, with deprivation of liberty for a term up to seven years with prohibition from certain offices/positions or from engaging in specified activities for a term of up to five years.
Note. In the present article "the public justification of terrorism" means a public statement recognising the ideology or practices of terrorism as correct, and requiring adherence and following.