The law on propaganda of separatism is adopted in the first reading

The State Duma adopted in the first reading the law on punishment for the propaganda of separatism, RIA Novosti reports. The project entered in the lower house last week a group of deputies from the Communist Party, headed by the party leader Gennady Zyuganov, was taken as a basis.

The bill includes in the Criminal Code Article 280.1 (public calls for the implementation of actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation). The proposed sanctions under this article are a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of two -year income of the convict, mandatory work for up to 300 hours or up to three years of colony. For the propaganda of separatism using the media or the Internet, deputies provide more stringent sanctions - up to 480 hours of compulsory work or up to five years of colony.

It is assumed that the document will enter into force on May 9, 2014.

According to one of the authors of the bill, a member of the Duma Committee on Criminal Law Yuri Sinelshchikov, the deputies will prepare the amendments to the second reading to the case under Article 280.1 to the proportion of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee.

Zyuganov spoke with the initiative of criminal prosecution for calls for the dismemberment of Russia on October 19 . "We - our deputies - must make a proposal: that even verbal calls for the separation of a single and indivisible Russia will be punishable by imprisonment," he said at the plenum of the Central Committee of the party. Zyuganov did not explain what his initiative is connected with. At the same time, he expressed confidence that citizens of the country would support the idea.

In early November, unicorn Anton Romanov, Evgeny Fedorov and Directorate Mikhail Emelyanov introduced another bill to the State Duma, which introduces much more stringent punishments for the same actions. So, the proposed Articles 282.3 (propaganda of separatism) and 282.4 (planning, preparation, call for undermining or encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Russian Federation) provide for up to 20 years of the colony. Article 280 (public calls for extremism) and 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of activities of an extremist organization) is also significantly tightened. The future fate of this bill was not reported.