United Russia

New York, July 11, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned over Russia’s moves to return defamation to the criminal code, and calls on the parliament to reject the restrictive bill on its second reading. 

Following Sunday’s elections to the Russian Duma, news reports abound of the wave of opposition protests that have hit Russia’s current and historic capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In demonstrations unprecedented in the past decade, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets chanting “Russia without Putin!” and calling for the vote to be annulled,…