During his presidency, D.A. Medvedev removed Art. 129, which determined the responsibility of citizens for libel. Only six months the article was administrative. In July 2012, a group of deputies from the United Russia party proposed that criminal liability for defamation be returned. In record time - literally in 10 days - the Duma considered the bill in 3 readings and adopted, with a maximum penalty of 5 million rubles or 480 hours of community service.
Most of the journalists reacted to this initiative EP sharply negatively. They reasonably suggested that the bill was the reaction of the ruling party to the numerous disclosures of falsifications of the results of the Duma and presidential elections. The Internet project "The Good Machine of Truth" threatens corrupt officials holding high government posts with new disclosures. In order to deprive dissatisfied citizens of the opportunity to fight against bureaucratic abuses, the parliamentary majority decided to return the criminal liability for defamation.
In Russia, there is sad experience in applying this article. For 2 years, from 2009 to 2011, about 800 people were convicted, mostly journalists and bloggers. The publication of revealing materials is perceived by officials as a personal insult. If the offended person has a fairly high social position and has the ability to put pressure on the court, a decision on the libel suit is likely to be made in his favor. In this case, the reliability of the materials that the journalist or blogger submitted in support of his words does not matter.
Journalists wrote a petition to Russian President Putin V.V. and invited everyone who disagrees with the change in legislation to sign it. 2500 signatures were collected on the Internet. In the petition, the authors gave examples of the use of Art. 129 to reprimand critics of senior officials and accused the Union of Russian Journalists of not protecting the interests of pen workers.
While the discussion of the bill was going on, journalists held solitary pickets under the walls of the State Duma. In their hands they held handwritten posters “No to the law on libel”, “I am against the law on libel”. Representatives of various media showed full solidarity with protesting colleagues - these actions were widely covered in print and on TV.
