Is it a relief?

The Duma Security Committee proposes to exclude a number of particularly harsh provisions from the law, which significantly expands the powers of the FSB and has already been adopted in the first reading. Thus, deputies want to relieve citizens from administrative liability for failure to comply with a notice issued by the FSB. They do not want the FSB to publish warnings addressed to a citizen without his permission and for the citizen to be required to appear at a federal service office to listen to this warning.

According to a committee representative quoted by RIA Novosti, the deputies listened to human rights activists. However, it seems that the Duma did not meet them halfway. In addition to the above, it was proposed to remove the unclear epithet “special” in relation to preventive measures that FSB officers can take. This, however, of course, does not eliminate prevention altogether. Deputies proposed adding to the law that a citizen or legal entity can challenge the comments made to him in court. Nezavisimaya Gazeta reminds that such an article already exists in the law on the FSB. Well, besides, how much one can hope for in the courts is more or less known. However, the mentioned representative of the Duma committee believes that a bill will be prepared for adoption in the second reading that “allows for ensuring a balance between individual interests and state interests.” Kommersant quotes the words of the deputy chairman of the committee, Gennady Gudkov, who said that “nothing much has changed” in the bill.