Senators approved the law on state secrets

The Federation Council approved the government law on criminal penalties for illegally obtaining information constituting state secrets.

Corresponding amendments have been made to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of the Russian Federation. They provide that for obtaining information constituting a state secret by abduction, deception, blackmail, coercion, threat of violence or other illegal means, the person who committed these actions may be punished with a fine in the amount of 200 to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount wages for a period of one to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to four years.

The same act, if committed by a group of persons, or with the use of violence, or entailed grave consequences, or committed with the use of technical means intended for secretly obtaining information, or with the movement of such information outside the country, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to eight years old.

Previously, human rights activists appealed to the Federation Council with a request to reject the law that toughens the punishment for disclosing state secrets and introduces criminal liability for obtaining information constituting a state secret. They drew attention to the fact that it contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation and was not discussed in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. According to human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, the adoption of the law will lead to a “new round of spy mania” and persecution of civil activists, opposition politicians and human rights activists.

Interfax