MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin firmly believes that no one can be brought to criminal responsibility for dissemination of information from open sources, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Friday, commenting on the statement Putin made at the Human Rights Council meeting Thursday.
"It is absolutely clear that no one can be brought to responsibility for the use of open data from open sources. This is exactly what the president said, this is his point of view, his conviction that he voiced," the spokesman said.
On Thursday, journalist Yekaterina Vinokurova said that the concept of treason and the corresponding criminal clause must be amended, because it currently covers information, obtainable from open sources. The president responded by saying that treason is a serious crime, a betrayal of one’s own people, and that traitors must be punished heavily. However, he called attempts to push treason charges for transmission of public information a complete nonsense and a tragicomedy.
Peskov was also asked whose opinion should be taken as a priority, because the legal practice indicates that there were cases of persecution for dissemination of data from open sources.
"A person loses freedom by the ruling of a court; the Federal Security Service (FSB) does not imprison anyone and cannot find anyone guilty. It is the Prosecutor’s Office that presses charges, while the FSB can only investigate and carry out its constitutional functions," the spokesman said.
He pointed out that while indeed there were cases of persecution for spread of open-source information, "there were fewer of them than there are fingers on one hand - maybe one or two."
"The president has spoken his mind," the spokesman said.