The enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly has long been partial, and often perilous, for government critics in Russia. The squeeze on the exercise of these rights has accelerated markedly since the return of Vladimir Putin to the Presidency in 2012. Independent NGOs, critical media outlets and public protesters have all borne the brunt of an assault on fundamental freedoms that has been fuelled and “justified” by an increasingly aggressive propaganda drive to depict them as a fifth column bent on undermining Russia’s stability and prosperity.
