Last week, as the prospect of increased fines for protesting loomed, Vladimir Putin teased those concerned about its implications with assurances that he would not sign the bill if it in any way contravened European ‘norms’.  Once it was signed, despite a panorama of raised eyebrows, he stated with certainty that Western Europeans powers have similar laws.  Today in the Moscow Times, Parnas co-founder Vladimir Ryzhkov explains exactly why this argument is specious.  Of seven main points, here’s the first three:

1. The Russian law violates Council of Europe standards by permitting the government to compel citizens to change the location or route of their rally based on arbitrary grounds. This also violates the European Court of Human Rights’ basic principle that “States must refrain from applying arbitrary measures capable of interfering with the right to assemble peacefully.”