TOP LEGAL EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK
13/07/2023, 14:00
Violations of international obligations, manipulations in legislation, infringement of rights and freedoms, and injustice in the legal system - all these characteristics apply to the modern judicial system of the Russian Federation. Attempts to undermine contractual obligations through threats have long ceased to be effective. Gazprom’s emphasis on the possibility of discontinuing gas transit through Ukraine due to arbitration proceedings is completely inappropriate, and in the current system of international relations, such threats are simply meaningless.
Gazprom has threatened to sever any cooperation with Kyiv over arbitration proceedings. Continuing attempts by Naftogaz Ukraine to engage in arbitration proceedings with Gazprom are fraught with the imposition of sanctions by the Russian Federation and the cessation of gas transit. This has been stated by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Russian gas monopoly, to journalists in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
Russia and Finland have exchanged diplomatic demarches. Russia declared nine Finnish diplomats "persona non grata" and withdrew its consent for the operation of the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg. Antti Helanterä, the Ambassador of Finland in Moscow, was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a strong protest was lodged against the alleged "confrontational anti-Russian policy" being pursued by the Finnish authorities.
A contract officer has been sentenced to two years in a penal colony for refusing to fight against Ukraine. The Garrison Military Court of Zaozerye in the Murmansk region sentenced the commander of an anti-tank platoon to two years in a settlement colony for refusing to fight against Ukraine.
The number of convicted individuals in places of deprivation of liberty in Russia is historically low. Irina Pankina, Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation, reported this. According to the Federal Penitentiary Service, there were approximately 400,000 people in places of deprivation of liberty as of February 1, 2023. "This has never happened before," she said.
