According to a report published by Russian human rights project First Department (Pervyy Otdel) on April 15, the decree is dated March 8, 2022. It was referenced in a publicly available document from Russia’s Investigative Committee, the journalists said. According to the document, the FSB detained a Russian citizen and placed him in a pretrial detention facility citing Putin’s March 8 decree on the “organization of reception and placement of persons who oppose the Special Military Operation [invasion of Ukraine].” The decree, First Department said, authorized the country’s military, the FSB, the Interior Ministry, and the Federal Protective Service (FSO) to send people into detention.
First Department noted the decree contradicts Article 22 of the Russian Constitution, which says people may be deprived of liberty only by a court decision.
“The text of the document indicates that those labeled as
‘opposing the Special Military Operation’ are subject to a special isolation
regime based on a closed presidential ‘decision’ and an internal instruction,”
the group said.