This is a very important post about an important project the Anti-Corruption Foundation is launching, and I urge everyone to join it. This is an open-ended project: we will keep working on it until we get results. And we absolutely must get them.
Lately, you’ve probably been constantly coming across this symbol in my blog, Twitter, Facebook, or VKontakte:
and a description of some crook’s scam. That’s what I want to talk to you about.
I’ll be honest: we are terribly tired of hunting down officials’ hidden assets. All these dachas and offshore accounts. Of course, we will keep doing it, because it is critically important work, no one else is going to do it, and it is unquestionably for the public good. But naturally, we want something more: not just to expose a crook, but to build a system in which life becomes as uncomfortable as possible for him. A system in which yet another villa bought with unexplained income would lead not just to resignation or to made-up stories about a mother-in-law, but would open a direct path to criminal prosecution.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation drafts many anti-corruption laws, amendments, proposals, and policy concepts. Among them is one thing that, in my view, is absolutely crucial, and without it no serious conversation about fighting corruption is possible.
Let’s fight for this together. I’m talking about combating illicit enrichment.
As you know, there is the UN Convention against Corruption, which Russia ratified long ago—except for one small article that looks like a Russian official’s worst nightmare:
Translated from legalese into plain language: if an official (or an employee of a state-owned company) cannot explain where he got the money to build a huge mansion-like dacha and buy a sleek black car, then that in itself is a crime. He can be held criminally liable for it.
We do not need to prove that he took bribes from some particular businessman. We do not need to prove that he received specific kickbacks.
We prove something else: your family income is 1.5 million rubles a year, but you built a house for 10 million rubles, bought a car for 3 million rubles, and on top of that you still eat, drink, and get dressed. The math is simple: your income over five years was 7.5 million rubles, while your expenses in one year were 13 million rubles. So either you explain where you got the extra 5.5 million rubles (at a minimum), or we classify that gap as illicit enrichment and hold you criminally liable.
It is entirely possible that the official produces a document showing he inherited money from an uncle. We look at his annual asset declaration and see that the inheritance was listed there. In that case, there are no questions for him.
Let me explain with a specific example. There is the well-known MP Neverov, one of the leaders of United Russia (the ruling party). He used to be presented as a “simple miner,” then he became a member of parliament, and then he built a palace in Istra.
We caught him lying in his declaration, and he forged documents to win a “court case” against us. But we all understand that this is just procedural fuss. The real question is only one: what income did United Russia politician Neverov use to build something this lavish?
Right now, it is just a rhetorical question. Neverov answers it mockingly: “It’s my mother-in-law’s dacha.” If the concept of “illicit enrichment” existed in our legislation, Neverov would have to go to prison. And we would not need to prove the obvious but hard-to-prove fact that United Russia bosses are handed suitcases full of cash. We would catch him on what cannot be hidden—his actual spending and lifestyle.
An even better example is FSB General Beseda. So he put a huge estate in his dear son’s name:
And what exactly can we charge him with, apart from posting a photo and a blog entry? Nothing. Nothing has technically been violated here; no one is required to explain to us where the money for such construction came from. Get lost, Russians, with your questions.
The same goes for Sobyanin and his daughters and their apartments. Fine, you caught us with apartments bought with money from who-knows-where. Is that a crime? You suspect me of taking bribes? Keep suspecting me—while you do that, I’ll go buy another 200 million ruble apartment, because that isn’t illegal.
The 17-year-old daughter of MP Yarovaya, who heads the anti-corruption commission, buys an apartment in central Moscow for millions of dollars. Yarovaya’s income is nowhere near enough for such a purchase. There it is—corruption, plain as day! What can we do? Nothing but shout about it. There is no law under which Yarovaya could be held accountable—or even forced to explain the source of the money.
I call on everyone to unite in order to achieve two simple things:
1. Russia’s ratification of Article 20 of the UN Convention against Corruption.
2. The introduction into the Russian Criminal Code of the concept of “illicit enrichment,” making it possible to hold criminally liable officials who cannot explain income sources sufficient to cover their actual spending.
Let’s not fool ourselves: there is no “silver bullet,” no law that will kill corruption in Russia. Only political competition, honest courts, and a free media can defeat corruption. But if there is something truly important, the main step you can start with and without which nothing will work, it is this.
To achieve this goal, we can unite on a completely non-ideological basis. This is a normal demand for any normal person. For example, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has repeatedly introduced a bill to ratify Article 20, and it is still lying somewhere in the depths of the State Duma. Even—dare I say it—some members of United Russia support it.
I’ll say even more: the fight against illicit enrichment is a more unifying idea than Crimea. Literally everyone supports it.
Take a look at the results of a nationwide sociological survey by the Anti-Corruption Foundation on this issue. It was one of our secret polls—we conducted it before preparing this campaign and did not publish it:
72% of Russian citizens believe corruption is high:
58% believe the level of corruption is rising or at least not falling:
87% are concerned about corruption among officials:
90% (!!!!) believe officials live more lavishly than they can afford. In other words, they are effectively accusing officials of illicit enrichment.
74% agree with the statement, “almost all officials live beyond their means”:
And 87% directly support criminal liability for illicit enrichment.
What do I mean when I say “let’s unite”? We need a broad public campaign for the adoption of these norms. We can see that, in fact, everyone supports this, but the issue is absent from Russia’s political agenda. No one discusses it, no one debates it.
Millions of voters need to keep this issue in mind constantly.
I don’t care who you are: a liberal or a conservative, a socialist or a libertarian, for Crimea or against Crimea, and even!!! for Putin or against Putin. You will be joining me and the Anti-Corruption Foundation if you make the fight against illicit enrichment one of your personal political demands.
Don’t want to unite? Fine. I’m perfectly happy if you hate me and demand action against illicit enrichment separately, or within your own political organization.
We need to understand that everyone needs this. Everyone wants it. And the people blocking the fight against illicit enrichment are precisely the people enriching themselves illicitly.
We need to make a person’s position on “illicit enrichment” a basic qualifying criterion for politicians and public figures. You can argue about the finer points of enforcement, punishment, and so on, but if you are against ratifying Article 20, then there is nothing to talk about. No support—ever, not even by an inch.
We need to get every public figure to state a clear position on this issue, and make that information public knowledge.
We need to explain to every voter in the country that this exists. We need to explain why it matters. We need to make sure that when voters make their choice, they remember who is for it and who is against it.
There is no doubt about it: the current authorities are categorically against this and will do everything they can to keep “illicit enrichment” out of the Criminal Code. They understand perfectly well that, given the chance, they would all end up in prison under such an article.
Even so, the authorities must be pressured. That is why I say the campaign must be open-ended: sooner or later, we will force some government to adopt what we need. After all, 87% of the population demands it—remember?
In fact, let’s be honest with ourselves: in modern Russian history, there has not been a single example of a proper organized campaign to advance a legislative initiative. Small interesting actions—yes. But nothing that was really pursued for a long time, persistently, reaching large numbers of people and not abandoned after two months because everyone got tired of it.
The only examples I can recall are our own campaigns—“vote for any party except United Russia” or “Good Machine of Truth”—but they clearly did not have the scale we need here.
Let’s do it together. We have everything we need: — an idea supported by an absolute majority; — the internet. They may block it, but it still exists for now; — examples of illicit enrichment. The Anti-Corruption Foundation will provide them, and everyone knows examples of their own; — we will raise the money.
Keep your eyes on the goal, believe in yourself, and ignore the obstacles. We have all of that too.
People break through walls with less than this—so are we really not going to force the authorities to pass the law we need?
Let’s think together about the elements of this campaign and put them into action. Here is what we have already come up with and plan to do (together with you)—the most obvious steps:
100,000 signatures on the Russian Public Initiative platform (ROI), to formalize the process and enter into a legal dialogue with the government and the Duma; Collecting signatures in every format (electronic and paper); A petition campaign of every kind and at every level. For example, until now we (like everyone else) have written only to State Duma deputies. So now we will write to deputies at every level. There are many thousands of them; it will be a huge amount of work, but also an excellent tool for raising awareness. Simply calling deputies and demanding that they state their position. A special newspaper/brochure/leaflet. We will distribute several million copies; there is no urgent deadline, so we can do it calmly and inexpensively. Holding informational exhibitions about illicit enrichment in the regions. At universities, for example, or simply in places where people gather. Roundtables on the issue in the regions. (this will be fun) Creating regional groups to identify cases of illicit enrichment. Roughly speaking: you photograph your deputy governor’s dacha and compare its value with his income. Then publish it yourself or send it to us here. Active promotion online. Videos, graphics, texts.
And there is much more we can come up with. We need to involve a few tens of thousands of people across the country in more or less active work to promote the campaign. Then our reach will be measured in the millions.
What we have already done:
The first version of the campaign website has been launched: http://20.navalny.com/. Please take a look. The Anti-Corruption Foundation developed the initiative, coordinated it with many experts, and submitted it to ROI.
It is a fairly detailed, ready-to-use draft law. It could be integrated into the existing legal system right now. It applies not only to officials, but also to the management of state-owned or state-participated companies, as well as relatives.
Obviously, where there are two lawyers, there are three opinions. At the Anti-Corruption Foundation, we practically killed each other before arriving at the final version. You can argue about individual provisions, but on ROI you are voting for the essence: ratification of Article 20 and the introduction into the Criminal Code of an article on “illicit enrichment.”
So far, this is the only item with a deadline. The initiative was submitted a long time ago (then there were elections, then arrests), and there are three months left until the end of signature collection. Amusingly, I have never once, anywhere, ever posted the link to this vote, and yet it already has 4,400 votes. People are finding it and voting on their own while browsing initiatives.
Don’t put this off—vote right now. Let me remind you that here is a detailed explanation of why it is necessary to vote on ROI, no matter what.
We have written an FAQ (in the top section). You probably already want to ask me a whole bunch of questions about the concept of “illicit enrichment”—about the presumption of innocence and all that. Read the answers. If your question is not there, ask in the comments—we will answer. We will keep expanding the FAQ.
On the website, we have opened sign-ups for those willing to help with this campaign. Sign up now if an official buying a yacht with unexplained money infuriates you as much as it infuriates us. We will work together.
We are creating a center that will verify, process, and publish information from the regions. If you have found an official in your area who is living beyond his means, send the information here: 20@navalny.com.
We have started working on the campaign’s visual branding. As you have probably guessed, we have chosen #20 as the main symbol.
No political coloring. Anyone can use it. As the campaign expands, everyone will understand what #20 stands for. Already available: T-shirts-bags-stickers
Let me remind you that we get nothing from these sales. Our only interest is that you wear them and others see them.
We have begun working with well-known and respected people who are ready to support the campaign. Especially since many of them (for example, Sergei Guriev) had already spoken in favor of these ideas before.
This is our main campaign right now, and I will be writing about it a lot and doing everything I can to persuade you to take part in it ~~so you might as well agree right away~~.
Let me answer right away those who will say: this is nonsense, we need to change the regime; only then will we defeat corruption. That is true. But in order to change the regime, you have to explain to people again and again why that regime needs to be changed. As part of this campaign, we will say: We want something simple—clear sources of income, and spending that does not exceed them. But the regime does not even want that much. Therefore, such a regime is not needed.
And many will repeat after us: yes, such a regime is not needed. That is how we will change it.
We will succeed; everyone just has to do their part. If you like the idea, start simply by posting a link to this post, to the website https://20.navalny.com/, or even just to the #20 symbol. Write: “Good idea. I support it.” That is already good.
No one but us will do this. But when we do, 87% of people will thank us. And 87% is, after all, even a little more than 84%.
Join in.