Russian Extremism Law Casts Wide Net

MOSCOW-Among the locals, retired truck driver Pyotr Gagarin says he's known as a man who doesn't mince his words. Now he's known around Russia as a man who called his governor "scum" and wound up accused of extremism."It's all a comedy that's being staged to rig elections," he said. "Insult someone, and suddenly you're an extremist?"Gagarin, 71, who is due in court Tuesday to defend himself against criminal charges, is the latest to be caught up in a widening net of criminal prosecutions being brought in Russia under a newly updated law on extremism.The government maintains the legislation, first passed in 2002 and amended by parliament in July, is aimed at curbing nationalist groups and slowing a nationwide surge of xenophobic attacks and hate crimes. But many of those who have been targeted are journalists, rights advocates and opposition leaders, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.With just three months remaining before parliamentary elections—and six months before Russians chose a new president—fears have grown that President Vladimir Putin's government is using the legislation as another tool to consolidate its grip on the country's political life."This is a very dangerous law that will open the road to mass repression," said Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst and member of a liberal political party who faces extremism charges over his book, "Unloved Country," which is critical of the Kremlin.Among the people and organizations suspected of extremist activity in recent months:
—A columnist at the business newspaper Vedomosti who has been critical of the Kremlin and who said he was forced by police to sign a document saying he was not a member of an extremist organization;
—A prominent human rights activist accused of shouting extremist slogans during a protest against what he said was a politically motivated court case;
—The National Bolshevik Party, a radical group that has teamed up with Kasparov's political organization, and the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, a rights group fiercely critical of the government's military campaign in Chechnya, both declared extremist organizations by courts.
—Kasparov, now a leading opposition figure, who was questioned by federal security agents about whether he had made extremist statements in a radio interview and in articles published in his opposition group's newspaper.The law's broadly worded language gives authorities wide latitude to charge people—or close down organizations for otherwise insignificant violations, critics say."In practice, as a tool, it's used randomly," said Alexander Verkhovsky, whose SOVA rights center monitors extremism, hate crime and religious freedoms. "Any group could end up targeted by the law—any group, neo-Nazi, human rights groups, center, left, completely apolitical groups."
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As in the days of Noah....