For example: Last month, reformist politician Yegor Gaidar lost a libel suit filed against him by ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Gaidar called Zhirinovsky a "fascist" in the newspaper Izvestia, but Zhirinovsky was able to defend himself by saying that he was not. Had there been a more specific law describing fascism, Zhirinovsky might have had more difficulty escaping the epithet, Kozyrev said.
"Our legislation does not have a foundation against fascism," Kozyrev said at a joint meeting with human rights activists at the Foreign Ministry.
People in law enforcement agree as well. "As for me, I would ban all fascist organizations, but it is very difficult to prove legally that they are really fascists because there is not an appropriate law," Vitaly Ryabov, a spokesman for the city prosecutor's office, said in a separate interview Thursday.
Yevgeny Proshechkin, a deputy of the City Duma and a participant in the gathering, was more emphatic in his criticism, saying the prosecutor's office "indulges fascists of all kinds" in this country. "We can't make a serious argument that we live in a civilized, democratic country because of this orgy," he said, pointing to several anti-Semitic leaflets belonging to the fascist organization Russian National Unity. Proshechkin said the leaflets had been handed out in front of the Russian White House.
Proshechkin distributed a statement containing examples of how the prosecutor's office had to stop investigations of certain fascist and anti-Semitic publications due to an alleged lack of evidence. For example, prosecutors halted a 1993 investigation of an anti-Semitic publication in the magazine Molodaya Gvardia due to the lack of evidence, even though the text in question said that Jews "annually murder thousands of children a year in ritual killings."
Alexei Batogov, a spokesman for the extremist Liberal Democratic Party, said their leader Zhirinovsky had lost not a single suit against those who insulted him or called "fascist."
"We are always right and courts legally prove all the time this fact," Batogov said. "We know we will never lose."
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.