In the first half of 2023, 12 people were convicted of treason in Russia, which is three times more compared to the same period last year, Russian media calculated from open sources. According to the Judiciary Department, in the first six months of 2022, four people were convicted under article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (treason).
Among those convicted of treason in 2023 are journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza* (who received a record 25-year prison sentence), 71-year-old MIPT professor Valery Golubkin, an employee of a military-industrial complex of Nizhny Novgorod region, which, according to investigators, tried to establish a channel for the illegal transfer of information about the latest scientific developments abroad, an entrepreneur from Rostov, Alexander Derkunsky, who has was accused of selling a hardware and software system used by foreign secret services, as well as two defendants in the case of arson of a military registration and enlistment office in Perm, and several servicemen. Most of these cases were initiated before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Lawyers interviewed by Russian media believe that a further increase in convictions in treason cases will not be reflected in official statistics until 2024.
“Under the amendments to the Criminal Code, high treason can be committed in the form of financial and other assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And judging by information from open sources, these forms of high treason account for the bulk of recently initiated criminal cases. Thus, the number of cases directly depends on the course of the special military operation and the time of its completion, ”says lawyer Oleg Eliseev.
Tatyana Zavyalova, a member of the Russian bar, is also convinced that the statistics will decrease only after the end of hostilities – before that the situation should not improve.
Based on media publications, it can be seen that in 2023 the number of cases initiated under Article 275 of the Criminal Code has also increased significantly – from January to June, at least 43 people are become charged in treason cases, twice as many as all of last year. Most often, under this article, they were arrested on suspicion of passing information to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and attempting to leave to fight alongside Ukraine. Among other grounds for opening a criminal case for treason, one can distinguish suspicions of funding the Armed Forces of Ukraine and involvement in the arson of military registration and enlistment offices.
At the end of April, President Vladimir Putin sign the Penal Code Amendment Act, which increases the penalty to life imprisonment for high treason. Previously, the maximum sentence under this article was 20 years in prison.
- recognized in Russia as a foreign agent
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