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The Magnificent Seven, or Why Russia Needs Lifetime Senators

Details: 10 November 2020; Ekaterina Mishina

In late October, Vladimir Putin introduced to the State Duma a new bill on the formation procedure of Russia’s Federation Council. The amendments, introduced as part of the constitutional reform, will allow head of state to appoint lifetime senators. Legal scholar Ekaterina Mishina evaluated the key ideas of this proposal.

Details: Human Rights

Human Rights Advocates: Political Repressions in Russia Are Getting Worse

Details: 06 November 2020; Institute of Modern Russia

On October 30, Russia’s Day of Political Prisoners, the Sakharov Center, the Memorial Human Rights Center, and the Boris Nemtsov Foundation held a roundtable on politically motivated prosecutions in modern Russia. On the same day, the Memorial Center published an updated list of political prisoners, which currently includes 362 persons—an uptake from last year’s 305. As Memorial notes, the list is by no means exhaustive, as it only reflects the minimal accurate estimate of persecutions that can be substantiated through public data.

Details: Human Rights

October 2020: Yulia Galyamina, Mikhail Iosilevich, Yan Sidorov

Details: 01 November 2020; Diana Fishman

A number of political persecutions in October targeted the non-systemic opposition—a trend that Memorial Human Rights Center links to the Kremlin’s pressure on potential candidates in the 2021 State Duma elections. In Moscow, a trial has begun in the criminal case against municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina. In Nizhny Novgorod, oppositionist Mikhail Iosilevich was charged with collaborating with an “undesirable organization.” Additionally, in the Ulyanovsk region, Yan Sidorov, a defendant in the politically motivated “Rostov case,” was denied parole.

Details: News

IMR and СEPA hosted a virtual discussion on Russia’s civil society trends

Details: 30 October 2020

On October 29, 2020, the Institute of Modern Russia (IMR) and Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) hosted a virtual discussion following the release of IMR's new report titled “Russia under Putin: 20 Years of Battling over Civil Society.” The report is the second in the series of IMR's project dedicated to Russia under Vladimir Putin's 20-year long rule. Participants in the discussion included civil society researcher Yana Gorokhovskaia, Miriam Lanskoy (NED), Denis Volkov (Levada Center), and Edward Lucas (CEPA). IMR's Olga Khvostunova moderated.

Details: Opinions

Sergei Davidis: “The Russian authorities aim at discrediting the entire human rights movement”

Details: 30 October 2020; Olga Khvostunova

October 30 marks the Day of Political Prisoners in Russia. According to the latest data, there are currently 331 in the country. Sergei Davidis, Memorial council member and head of its political prisoners program, explains whom the Russian state is trying to repress.

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