A record 82 treason cases were opened so far this year, a Russian outlet claimed but the actual number is likely to be ‘many times higher’, the outlet has alleged
Paranoid Vladimir Putin’s security forces have massively increased the number of suspected ‘traitors’ they have arrested for treason.
Now literally everyone can be accused of treason,’ said the report.
‘Even likes on Instagram and subscriptions on Telegram [messenger service] can lead to a criminal case.’
Lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov, from human rights project Department One, said: ‘Do not forget that the very content of the state secret is a state secret.
‘That is, not a single person in Russia knows what exactly is a state secret and what is not.
‘Each [government] department has its own secret lists of information that they do not show to anyone.’ ‘The FSB has picked up its pace [in 2023] — we get 20 criminal cases a month on average.
‘At this rate, there will be about 250 [treason cases] by the end of December, one for every work day per year.’
Among those jailed for treason is Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, who holds Russian and British citizenship. He was imprisoned for 25 years for criticising Putin’s war and opposing his regime.
He was also twice poisoned.
Eminent Russian hypersonic scientist Valery Golubkin, 71, was in June sentenced by a Moscow court to 12 years in a strict regime colony for ‘state treason’.
The actual number is likely to be ‘many times higher’, because the FSB security service keeps some cases totally secret, according to independent Russian outlet Kholod.
Between 1997 and 2017 there were a total of 101 treason cases.
The figures confirm the suspicion that Putin is now seeing enemies everywhere on a scale not seen since the repressive Stalin era.
