Mikhail Fedotov
{{Short description|Russian jurist and human rights activist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mikhail Fedotov
| native_name = {{nobold|Михаил Федотов}}
| native_name_lang = ru
| image = Mikhail Fedotov.jpeg
| caption = Fedotov in 2014
| office = Chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights
| term_start = 12 October 2010
| term_end = 22 October 2019
| president = Dmitry Medvedev
Vladimir Putin
| predecessor = Ella Pamfilova
| successor = Valery Fadeyev
| office1 = Permanent Representative to UNESCO
| term_start1 = 23 September 1993
| term_end1 = 24 January 1998
| president1 = Boris Yeltsin
| predecessor1 = Vladimir Lomeiko
| successor1 = {{interlanguage link|Yevgeny Yurevich Sidorov|ru|Сидоров, Евгений Юрьевич|lt=Yevgeny Sidorov}}
| office2 = Minister of Press and Mass Media
| term_start2 = 23 December 1992
| term_end2 = 23 August 1993
| president2 = Boris Yeltsin
| primeminister2 = Viktor Chernomyrdin
| predecessor2 = Mikhail Poltoranin
| successor2 = Vladimir Shumeyko
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|9|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Moscow, Soviet Union
| alma_mater = Moscow State University (Faculty of Law)
All-Union Correspondence Institute of Law
| party = Union of Right Forces|
| module = {{Listen
|pos = center
|embed = yes
|filename = Mihail Fedotov voice.oga
|title = Mikhail Fedotov's voice
|type =
|description = Fedotov on the Echo of Moscow program, 11 March 2013
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}}
Mikhail Alexandrovich Fedotov ({{langx|ru|Михаил Александрович Федотов}}; born 18 September 1949) is a Russian jurist, politician, human rights activist, and former diplomat.
Biography
File:2012-03-15 Дмитрий Медведев, Михаил Федотов (2).jpeg Medvedev, 15 March 2012]]
File:Рабочая встреча с Председателем Совета по правам человека Михаилом Федотовым.jpeg Putin, 29 July 2014]]
Fedotov was born in Moscow into a family of lawyers. In 1966, he entered the law faculty at Lomonosov Moscow State University, but was expelled in 1968 for participating in the human rights movement. At the request of several professors, he was allowed to return to the evening department of the university. He also worked as a journalist for the newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva. He graduated with a degree in law from Moscow State University in 1972, followed by postgraduate studies in the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Law in 1976. In 1976-1990 he taught at the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Law at the Department of State Law. At the same time, he created draft laws "On the Press and other mass media" (which eliminated preliminary censorship), "On Public Associations", "On Mass Media", "On Archives", "On Publishing". He headed the working group on the preparation of the draft law "On Copyright and related rights".
In September 1990 – May 1992, he served as the Deputy Minister of the Press and Mass Media in Russia. From December 1992 to August 1993, he held the position of Minister of Press and Information in Russia. In the summer of 1993, he fought against the Supreme Council's introduction of amendments to Russia's law "On Mass Media". After the vote on these amendments, Fedotov resigned as minister.
Between September 1993 and January 1998, Fedotov served as Russia's Permanent Representative to UNESCO.
Mikhail Fedotov's bid for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Russia has been rejected twice: once in 1991, by the 5th Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, and again in 1997, by the Federation Council.
Fedotov has represented the President of Russia before the Constitutional Court in cases involving the CPSU, the National Salvation Front, and the introduction of oversight boards on state TV and radio by the Congress of People's Deputies. He has also represented the president at Congresses of the People's Representatives and at the Supreme Council, has represented the Government of Russia at the constitutional assembly, and was a member of the working group on drafting the Constitution of Russia.{{cite web|url=https://lenta.ru/lib/14208009/|title=Федотов, Михаил|author=|authorlink=|quote=В октябре 1991 года Федотов первый раз выдвигался на должность судьи Конституционного суда (его кандидатуру предлагал председатель Верховного Совета Руслан Хасбулатов) - однако так её и не занял, трижды не набрав необходимого числа голосов участников V Съезд народных депутатов|date=|format=|publisher=Lenta.ru|accessdate=2015-08-08|language=ru}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/172573|title=Совет федерации должен утвердить кандидатуру нового члена Конституционного суда|author=Максим Жуков|authorlink=|quote=В 1991 году он уже баллотировался в судьи Конституционного суда, однако съезд народных депутатов РСФСР отверг кандидатуру тогда уже широко "известного демократа" и политического соратника Бориса Ельцина|date=1997-02-15|format=|publisher=Газета «Коммерсантъ», № 12|accessdate=2015-08-08|language=ru}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/173774|title=СФ отклонил Федотова в КС|author=Максим Жуков|authorlink=|quote=Итак, уже вторая попытка Михаила Федотова войти в число главных юристов страны закончилась неудачей|date=1997-03-06|format=|publisher=Газета «Коммерсантъ», № 25|accessdate=2015-08-08|language=ru}}
After being appointed as chair of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights in 2010, Mikhail Fedotov said that he saw "de-Stalinizing public consciousness" as one of the main goals of the council.{{Cite web |url=http://www.interfax.ru/society/news.asp?id=159653 |title=Федотов обозначил приоритеты Совета по правам человека |access-date=2012-07-02}} On 1 March 2011, the Council revealed a project to "de-Stalinize" the Russian history of the 20th century.{{Cite web |url=https://rg.ru/2011/03/01/antistalin.html |title=Президентский Совет по развитию гражданского общества и правам человека разработал проект по "десталинизации" российской истории XX века |date=March 2011 |access-date=2020-05-04 }} The proposed program has elicited contradictory reactions in Russian society. Leader of the Yabloko Party Sergei Mitrokhin, politician Vladimir Ryzhkov,{{Cite web |url=http://smi2.ru/OksKuzmina/c587948/?comm_id=1292803 |title=Десталинизация России |accessdate=2012-07-02}} as well as historian Andrey Zubov,{{Cite web |url=http://www.russ.ru/pole/Dekommunizaciya-a-ne-destalinizaciya |title=Декоммунизация, а не десталинизация |access-date=2012-07-02 }} have all expressed support for the initiative. Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius has welcomed the Human Rights Council's proposal to recognize the USSR's responsibility for genocide during World War II, describing it as an "attempt to look honestly at country's history and conscience".[https://regnum.ru/news/polit/1387456.html Эксперт: Реализация «программы Федотова» открывает пусть для получения Литвой многомиллиардных компенсаций] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214165345/https://regnum.ru/news/polit/1387456.html}} // ИА Regnum Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has positively assessed Fedotov's work in this area.{{cite web|date=2011-06-07|url=https://regnum.ru/news/1413239.html|title=Глава МИД Литвы поблагодарил Федотова за идею "десталинизации"|publisher=Regnum|accessdate=2013-02-25|language=ru}} However, members of the Presidential Council {{interlanguage link|Emil Pain|ru|Паин, Эмиль Абрамович}} and Alexey Pushkov have taken a critical stance towards the proposed "de-Stalinization" program, as they believe it cannot serve as a basis for national reconciliation in modern Russia and will lead to further national division.{{Cite web |url=http://president-sovet.ru/structure/group_5/response/statement_of_pain_ea.php |title=Заявление Паина Э. А. // Совет при Президенте РФ |accessdate=2012-07-02 }}{{Cite web |url=http://president-sovet.ru/structure/group_5/response/statement_propagation_a.php |title=Заявление Пушкова А. К. // Совет при Президенте РФ |accessdate=2012-07-02}} Several experts, historians, and politicians have strongly criticized the "de-Stalinization" initiative and the activities of Fedotov.{{Cite web |url=https://regnum.ru/dossier/1747.html |title="Дело историков" — Все новости в сюжете — ИА REGNUM |access-date=2020-05-04}}{{cite web|date=2011-04-20|url=https://regnum.ru/news/1397127.html|title=Андрей Островский: "Десталинизация" или деформация общественного сознания?|publisher=Regnum|accessdate=2013-02-25|language=ru}}{{cite web|date=2011-08-16|url=https://regnum.ru/news/1435498.html|title=Григорий Дитятев: Десталинизация — от патологии к норме|publisher=Regnum|accessdate=2013-02-25|language=ru}}{{Cite web |url=http://histudies.ru/dl.php?file=434 |title=Журнал российских и восточноевропейских исторических исследований. № 1(3), 2011 |accessdate=2012-07-02}} Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov has expressed Fedotov's personal responsibility for Russia's current troubles, while the Council he heads has been compared to foreign "Russophobic" centers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rosbalt.ru/main/2011/03/31/834568.html |title=Зюганов: План "десталинизации" — это новая порция "гробокопательских идей" — Зюганов, десталинизация — Росбалт|access-date=2011-08-31 }} {{interlanguage link|Valery Fyodorov|ru|Фёдоров, Валерий Валерьевич}}, CEO of Russian Public Opinion Research Center, has stated that as the "homegrown de-Stalinizers" continue their efforts, their reputation will continue to decline, while Stalin's image will likely gain favor.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/society/2011/04/110427_stalin_vciom_support.shtml|title=Популярность Сталина в России стремительно растет|author=Дмитрий Булин|date=2011-04-27|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2011-04-25}}
Honours
- {{flagicon|Russia}} Russia: Order of Friendship (2014)
- {{flagicon|Russia}} Russia: Laureate of the Award of the Government of the Russian Federation for the field of printed media (2009)
- {{flagicon|Russia}} Russia: Honoured Lawyer of Russia (1999)
- {{flagicon|UNESCO}} UNESCO: UNESCO Medal in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1999)
- {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} USSR: Laureate of the Union of Journalists of the USSR Award (1990)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedotov, Mikhail}}
Category:Moscow State University alumni
Category:Kutafin Moscow State Law University alumni
Category:Russian human rights activists
Category:Advisers to the president of Russia
Category:Computer law scholars
Category:Scholars of constitutional law
Category:Union of Right Forces politicians
Category:Academic staff of the Higher School of Economics