The first instance is almost completed

The bill on the introduction of criminal liability for insulting the feelings of believers was adopted by the State Duma in the second reading

On May 21, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a bill in the second reading, according to which insulting the feelings of believers becomes a criminally punishable act. The deputies refused to introduce a separate article into the Criminal Code and proposed a new version of the old article on responsibility for obstructing the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and religion, the maximum sentence for which is 3 years in prison.

Compared to the first reading, the bill submitted to the State Duma in September 2012 was softened - now the maximum punishment under Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has been reduced from five years in prison to three. Other types of punishment include compulsory and corrective labor or a fine of up to 500,000 rubles. Such sanctions are imposed for "public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed with the aim of insulting the religious feelings of believers, including in places of religious worship, worship and other religious rites."

For unlawful obstruction of the activities of religious organizations and the conduct of rituals and ceremonies, the bill provides for a fine of up to 300,000 rubles or arrest for up to three months.

The bill also amends the Code of Administrative Offenses - violation of legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations is proposed to be fined up to 100 thousand rubles, and for "deliberate public desecration of religious or liturgical literature and objects of religious veneration, their damage or destruction" fines up to 200 thousand rubles are established.

The fact that an attempt to introduce criminal punishment for "insulting the feelings of believers" is nothing more than a new paganism in No. 3 of The New Times dated February 4, 2013 was written by Mikhail Yampolsky