Russian human rights organizations have filed complaints with the Constitutional Court demanding the repeal of a law that prohibits people from speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.

OVD-Info, one of the NGOs involved, said on Tuesday that the goal is to repeal Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which prohibits “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to protect the interests of the Russian Federation.”

“This article should not exist at all because it prohibits criticizing the state, which is unacceptable in a democratic society,” OVD-Info lawyer Violetta Fitzner told Reuters.

More than 6,500 cases of discrediting the armed forces of Russia

Chances of repealing the censorship law, part of a package approved eight days after last year’s invasion, are slim. But if the complaints are dismissed, Fitzner said, it would mean that human rights and the constitution no longer matter in Russia.

“In any case, we want to draw attention to the issue of persecution in Russia for anti-war positions and pacifist beliefs, and we state that such persecution is completely illegal.”

Human rights groups, including the banned organization Memorial and the prisoner support group Russia Behind Bars, want the Constitutional Court to rule that the ban on anti-war dissent violates basic freedoms of conscience, expression and assembly.

Fitzner said they have filed 10 complaints since late last week and plan to file 10 more. He doesn’t expect a response for months.

So far, authorities have registered 6,561 cases under Article 20.3.3, OVD-Info reports, including against people who held individual anti-war demonstrations, posted their views on the Internet, or wore anti-war symbols on their clothing.

Those convicted under the censorship law receive fines. If he repeats the crime of “discrediting the armed forces” within a year, he faces up to five years in prison, and spreading “false information” about the military is punishable by up to 15 years.

In recent weeks, the authorities have taken the suppression of dissent to a new level.

Last week, Volodymyr Kara-Murza, a prominent opposition figure, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and spreading false information about the army – three times the length of any previous sentence for speaking out against the war.

Since the beginning of March last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has promulgated a law prohibiting the spread of “false information” about the country’s armed forces.

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