In modern Russian political realities, various protests have become increasingly popular. The number of species is quite diverse. A noteworthy form of protest movement is the action of a single picket. It should be noted that solitary pickets are mainly a feature of Russian activists. Abroad, this kind of protest is rarely resorted to. Today, many citizens, both politically biased and ordinary people, ask themselves: are single pickets allowed? What does the law say about this? What information do I need to have this promotion?
What is a picket?
A picket is a public form of expression of one’s views conducted by one or more citizens. In this case, the means that enhance the sound are not used, movement is not carried out and campaign posters or banners are not used. There are different types of picketing, among which there is an action called a single picket.
This type of protest has differences. The main difference is that the action can be held without prior agreement with anyone, and only one person can participate in it. The absence in the legislation of a clause on the need to coordinate single pickets can most likely be explained by its supposed insignificance. After all, a picketer alone cannot cover a large meeting of people expressing their demands. He also will not be able to create special obstacles in terms of the generally accepted order in comparison with other forms of public events. But the correct and well-thought-out tactics for regulating such pickets helps to successfully resolve some problems and draw the attention of citizens to fundamental political, economic or cultural issues.
In order for such a civic initiative not to be meaningless, and its participants not to be held liable for various kinds of articles, you need to know well what the law prescribes in this case, and you should also understand certain formalities for organizing public events.
Legality
Firstly, it is necessary to state the fact that this protest action is officially allowed. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 31) gives Russians the right to carry out various forms of picketing. It is noted that the speeches should be peaceful and conducted without the use of weapons. There is also the Federal Law "On meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets," which confirms these points.
Main principles
When conducting an action, the following key points should be considered:
- Ensure compliance with the law (the place where the event is organized, and expressed views cannot go against the law).
- There should be no coercion (i.e. voluntary participation in the action).
- You need to know the points of the law, on the basis of which you can suspend or terminate a single picket.
Member Requirements
The main requirements are as follows:
- be a citizen of the Russian Federation;
- to be of legal age (18 years);
- means of visual agitation must comply with the norms of the law of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, you can sit or stand, but you can’t move around, use posters and banners, distribute leaflets to interested people, answer questions from citizens, representatives of the press and other media in order to explain the motives of their actions and their beliefs on this issue. The law does not prohibit shouting slogans, but only using your voice without amplifiers. However, this is not recommended, as such sounds can already be regarded as a rally.
Main prohibitions
These include: a public call for terrorist acts, extremist activities or the justification of terrorism. Understanding "extremist activity" includes:
- distribution and demonstration of the attributes of Nazism;
- fabrication of extremist slogans and their distribution;
- public appeals for the implementation of the above actions;
- intentionally falsely accusing a representative who holds a public office in the Russian Federation of committing the above acts.
In addition to the above, you can not use music, audio, dance, sing, make banging sounds, arrange acrobatic performances, make propaganda calls, interfere with passers-by and vehicles, drink alcohol, harm other people's property. When the picket is finished, it is necessary to remove all the attributes and the left trash.
Police can detain a picketer if, in their opinion, during the rally, aggression increases and there is a threat to his life from those who disagree with the Protestant’s position. Some picketers do not agree with this position and have already complained about this to the Constitutional Court of Russia, which clarified that the actions of the police really must correspond to the degree of threat. In such cases, the danger to the protester should not be far-fetched, but real.
A similar thing happened with the artist from St. Petersburg E. Osipova. On May 9, she tried to hold an antiwar picket, her ideological opponents and participants in the celebration did not like it, and they began to threaten her. In this case, the police could detain the picketer, but only if this measure would be the only way to guarantee his safety.
Allowed Places
Regarding the choice of places for this action, the law says that a picket can be held in any location if its implementation does not pose a threat of collapse of buildings and does not create any additional violations of the safety of citizens. But there is also a substantial reservation here that the legislature may specify conditions restricting or prohibiting a picket in some places.
Prohibited places
Places where such an action cannot be held include:
- areas located in the vicinity of hazardous production facilities;
- railway lines, oil and gas pipelines, sections where high-voltage transmission lines are located;
- territories adjacent to the presidential residences, courthouses or prisons;
- border zones (exception - availability of special permission).
Some Russian territories have the status of cultural and historical monuments. And if it is planned to hold a picket in such a place, then the rules for its implementation should determine the structures of the executive branch of the relevant constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and the specifics of such territories and the requirements of federal law will be taken into account.
An example of failure due to the discrepancy of the chosen place to the law is the detention of a member of the Yabloko party Mitrokhin. He staged a solitary picket on the renovation of Moscow near the State Duma building.
Stop or stop picketing
If during the period of the protest event (in this case, the picket), the rule of law is violated, but this does not entail a risk to the life and health of those participating, the representative of the government has the right to oblige the organizer to liquidate the excess that has occurred on his own or together with representatives of the police department. If this requirement is not met, authorities can stop the event for a certain time. When the violation is eliminated, the action by agreement of both parties may continue. If the violation has not been eliminated within the allotted time, the event is terminated in accordance with Articles 16, 17 of the Federal Law "On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Processions and Pickets".
Share Anton Valley
Anton Dolin is a well-known film critic in the country. He is the chief editor of the magazine "The Art of Cinema".
In December 2018, he organized a single-person rally in front of the presidential administration building. The rally was held in support of Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, who in 2015 was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the case of Crimean terrorists.
Dolin said that the action was held in connection with the delivery of the Sakharov Prize to the prisoner, which he could not receive by virtue of his stay in prison. A series of pickets in support of the Ukrainian director was organized by the writer A. Ganieva, L. Gozman and other famous personalities joined the action. According to participants, the administration did not intervene in the holding of pickets.
The action of Alena Popova
In 2018, human rights activist and public figure Alena Popova held a solitary picket: it was a protest against the behavior of State Duma deputy Slutsky. The protest was also caused by the work of the commission of the State Duma, which, understanding the history of the deputy Slutsky, did not find violations of ethical standards in his behavior.
According to Alena, initially she and her supporters planned to organize a mass rally in March 2018 on Theater Square, but their application was not accepted by representatives of the law. After that, like-minded people decided to hold a series of single pickets against Slutsky. For these purposes, they created cardboard images of the deputy.
At the State Duma building, where a woman was protesting, police representatives approached her and asked her to leave.
According to her, initially she was charged with the construction of a prefabricated collapsible structure (referring to a cardboard image of the deputy). As a result of this, she was detained, since the picket must be coordinated with the authorities when using such structures. According to paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Federal Law, she faced a fine of 20 to 30 thousand rubles. But a few hours later she was released due to insufficient grounds for arrest.
Alena said that she and her other like-minded people would continue to hold single pickets until their application for a mass event was accepted and agreed. Their goal is to amend the legislation of the Russian Federation on sexual harassment.
Single picket of Ildar Dadin
Ildar Dadin is a well-known activist of the Russian opposition. He became the first person convicted in the Russian Federation of a criminal rather than an administrative article because of the protests. True, the court later annulled the verdict, since violations were found in it.
In April 2017, Dadin was also detained for holding a picket near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow. The picketer put forward a demand to dismiss the Head of the Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Karelian Republic - Alexander Terekh. This action is an example of how you can get into the police department due to the lack of identity documents.
On July 7, in Moscow, he was arrested for picketing in front of the FSB building.This time, he ignored the order that during the World Cup, all protests in the capital should be coordinated with the authorities and carried out only in specially designated places. That is, from an official point of view, he really violated the legislative provision on holding a public event without notice (Article 20.2 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation). As a result, the activist was fined 20 thousand rubles.
Shares in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
On February 9, 2019, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, several individual pickets were held against the transfer of the South Kuril Islands to Japan. Civic activists with placards scattered in different areas of the city. These actions were not of a political nature, the participants were ordinary citizens. All events were peaceful. The police did not interfere with the protesters. This action was planned correctly and did not violate the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Summarizing, we can say that despite all the difficulties of the law, the action of a single picket is a very real form of protest. Single pickets are allowed and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, there are many limitations in their implementation. That is why, deciding on this type of protest, we must arm ourselves with the knowledge of the law and abide by all the rules of a single picket. In this case, the action will be as productive as possible and will not entail penalties.