Russia’s top law officer defends prosecutions aiming to rout ‘destructive forces’
MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) – Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has argued that current criminal action against people featured in the documentary film “Anatomy of Protest 2” is a necessary measure against “destructive forces.”
“The danger is that people may have their protest sentiments manipulated by interested persons and their associations in attempts by destructive forces to use the protest activity of the population for organizing illegal mass actions in order to destabilize the situation in the country and put forward their political demands. Actions of this kind pose a particular threat when they are initiated and supported by external political entities seeking domination in various regions of the world. Events recorded in the documentary ‘Anatomy of Protest 2’ are a good example of this,” Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Chaika as saying during an event at the newspaper’s headquarters in Moscow.
The prosecutor mentioned that “after checking facts recorded in (the film),” the Investigative Committee opened criminal proceedings against some individuals on suspicion of “organization of mass riots.” “The Office of the Prosecutor General has accepted this procedural decision as lawful and well-founded,” he said.
He also had a go at the Pussy Riot punk band’s scandalous performance at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February this year.
“Over the past few years, public and political processes in the country have radically changed the nature of relations between the state and religious communities. People have begun to be drawn to faith. However, today religion is seen as one of the effective means of influencing society, and besides stronger spirituality, there are glaring instances of encroachment on the feelings of believers, one of which was an indecent act of the Pussy Riot band in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior,” he said.
“The erosion of fundamental spiritual values is fraught with unpredictable consequences. This means not only new forms of extremism, but also encroachments on the culture of the nation, which spans many centuries, and its traditions. It is a priority task for multiethnic and multi-religious Russia to preserve social harmony and good-neighborly coexistence of various ethnic groups, cultures and faiths, and to fight ideas of ethnic and religious hatred and hostility,” Chaika said.
“And, for as long as there exists a favorable environment for further protest processes, including process leading to conflicts and extremist manifestations, the prosecution service will specially monitor neo-Nazi and nationalist organizations and international extremist religious structures that are involved in illegal activities in Russia in disseminating their extremist ideas,” he said.