You're reading: Russian prosecutor general claims public protests funded from abroad

MOSCOW - Russia's prosecutor general has claimed that public protests against alleged fraud during last month's parliamentary elections in Russia are often financed from abroad.

"It is intolerable that some individuals use people as tools for achieving their political goals, and goals far from always honest as well, because money for all this often comes from sources that are outside Russia," Yury Chaika said in an interview with Russian daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta a transcript of which is due to be published in Thursday’s issue of the paper.

"Any citizen has the right to state their positions, but everything must stay within the bounds of law," he said.

"Many have the impression" that last month’s deletion of articles on slander and insult from the Criminal Code means that "everything is allowed and no one is accountable for anything," Chaika said. "That is not true."

Slander and insult remain punishable offenses, it is simply that the penalties are milder than before, Chaika warned.

However, the penalties "are quite substantial financially," Chaika said. "For instance, an official may be fined up to 50,000 rubles and a legal entity up to 500,000 rules for slander in a public speech."

Chaika also mentioned a Criminal Code article entitled "Public Insult of a Representative of Government during, or in Connection with, the Performance by Him of His Official Duties." The article prescribes penalties from a fine equivalent to the offender’s monthly earnings to corrective labor for a maximum of one year.

"But, regardless of whether the law mandates any penalty or not, there are generally accepted rules of civilized behavior, respectful attitude to one another. It is important that all our citizens should stay within the limits of such relations," Chaika said.