Putin orders creation of commission to award ‘humanitarian benefits’ to relatives of government critics convicted in absentia

Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of an interagency commission to apply temporary restrictive measures to Russians who left the country and were convicted in absentia on “political” charges. The decree was published on Russia’s official legal information portal.The commission will decide whether to grant relatives of these Russians a monthly “humanitarian benefit” and will verify their eligibility for the payments.Relatives of Russians convicted in absentia will receive a payment equal to Russia’s monthly minimum wage if they have no income of their own. Authorities plan to finance the payments using the convicted person’s frozen funds or other property.Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko will chair the commission. It will also include representatives of the Interior Ministry, the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), and the Prosecutor General’s Office.The commission is being created under a provision of the law “On Temporary Restrictive Measures Against Individuals Outside Russia Who Are Evading Punishment,” which took effect in early August. Even while the bill was under consideration, Russian authorities made no secret of their plans to use it to persecute dissenters for political reasons.In effect, the law strips government critics prosecuted in absentia in Russia of certain rights. It allows authorities to block their Russian bank accounts and bars them from selling real estate or vehicles, using the Gosuslugi public services portal or online banking, and receiving certain consular services.These Russians will also be added to what amounts to a list of “enemies of the people.” The Justice Ministry is already testing the registry.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.