A new package of amendments to anti-terrorism legislation has been submitted to the State Duma

Deputy Irina Yarovaya and Senator Viktor Ozerov submitted a package of amendments to the State Duma that provide for a significant tightening of anti-terrorist and anti-extremist legislation.

On April 7, 2016, Deputy Irina Yarovaya and Senator Viktor Ozerov submitted two bills to the State Duma for consideration, which provide for a significant increase in criminal liability for terrorist and extremist crimes, and also contain a number of procedural innovations.

In the draft law on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is proposed under Part 1 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorist attack) to increase the minimum sentence from 8 years to 10 years in prison. In part 3 of Art. 205.1 (Aiding Terrorism), the authors of the bill propose to add aiding the taking of a hostage committed by an organized group or resulting in death, and aiding the creation of an armed formation, while increasing the minimum sanction from 10 years in prison to 15 years in prison with restriction of freedom for a period of 1-2 of the year.

From Art. 205.2 (public calls for terrorist activities) it is proposed to remove the possibility of assigning forced labor, while part 1 provides for the introduction of a minimum fine of 100 thousand rubles, and part 2 (calls made using the media) the minimum term of imprisonment authors amendments are proposed to be set at 5 years (currently not set), while equating appeals on the Internet with appeals in the media.

For participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (part 2 of article 205.5), Yarovaya and Ozerov propose imprisonment for a period of 10 to 20 years (now a period of 5 to 10 years is provided). According to Art. 208 they want to increase the minimum sanction for the creation of an illegal armed group (part 1) from 8 to 10 years in prison, and for participation in it (part 2) - from 5 to 8 years.

The bill provides for the introduction of a new article 361 (an act of international terrorism) into the Criminal Code. By such an act is meant the commission of a terrorist act outside the country and directed either against Russian citizens or against the interests of the Russian Federation. The punishment is proposed to be set in the form of 15-20 years in prison with restriction of freedom for up to 2 years or in the form of life imprisonment. For financing international terrorism (part 2 of article 361), it is proposed to be imprisoned for a term of 10 to 15 years with a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of income for a period of up to 3 years or without it. For an act of international terrorism that resulted in the death of people, the authors of the bill propose to punish with 18-20 years of imprisonment with restriction of freedom for 1-2 years or life imprisonment.

In general, it is proposed to recognize as an aggravating circumstance the commission of a crime under conditions armed conflict or hostilities (clause "l" of article 63 of the Criminal Code).

In addition, the amendments contain a proposal to introduce a new article 205.6 on failure to report an impending crime under articles 205, 205.1, 205.2, 205.3 (training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities), 205.4 (organization of a terrorist community and participation in it), 205.5, 206 (taking a hostage), 208 (organizing or participating in an illegal armed group), 211 (hijacking an air or water transport vessel or railway rolling stock), 220 (illicit handling of nuclear materials or radioactive substances), 221 (theft or extortion of nuclear materials or radioactive substances), 277 (treachery against the life of a statesman or public figure), 278 (forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power), 279 (armed insurrection), 360 (attack against internationally protected persons or institutions), and 361. Punish for failure to report, it is proposed a fine in the amount of 200-500 thousand rubles or the income of the convicted person for 1-3 years, or forced labor for up to 3 years, or imprisonment for up to 3 years. The article does not apply to close relatives of the offender.

In addition, changes to Art. 20 of the Criminal Code provide for a reduction to 14 years of the age of criminal responsibility under Art. 205.3, part 2 of Art. 205.4, part 2 of Art. 205.5, Art. 205.6, part 2 of Art. 208, Art. 211, part 2 of Art. 212 (participation in riots), articles 277, 360, 361. At the same time, the bill provides for the release of minors from punishment with placement in a special educational institution of a closed type under Part 1 of Art. 205, Art. 205.3, part 2 of Art. 205, part 1 of Art. 208, but the prohibition on such release of minors under Art. 205.2. Currently, among the "terrorist" articles, minors can only be convicted under articles 205, 206, 207 (knowingly false report of an act of terrorism).

Significant tightening, according to the authors of the bill, should also occur in terms of punishments for extremist crimes: it is proposed to completely exclude all penalties that are not related to deprivation of liberty from Articles 282, 282.1, 282.2, 282.3. Thus, the amendments provide that inciting hatred or enmity should be punished by 2-5 years in prison (under part 1, part 282) or 3-5 years (under part 2).

For organizing an extremist community (part 1 of article 282.1), it is proposed to be imprisoned for a term of 5 to 8 years with a ban on a profession for up to 10 years and restriction of freedom for 1-2 years, for recruiting into it (part 1.1) - for a period of 5 to 8 years with restriction of freedom of 1-2 years, for participation (part 2) - for a period of 4 to 6 years with a ban on the profession of up to 5 years or without it and restriction of freedom of up to 1 year, and for the commission of these crimes using one's official position - for a period of 6 to 10 years with a ban on the profession up to 10 years or without it and restriction of freedom for 1-2 years.

Similar tightening is proposed to be introduced in Art. 282.2 (organization of the activities of an extremist organization): under part 1, only imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years is provided with a ban on a profession for a term of up to 10 years or without it and restriction of freedom up to 2 years or without it, under part 1.1 ( recruitment) - for a period of 5 to 8 years with a restriction of freedom of 1-2 years, under part 2 (participation in the activities of such an organization) - for a period of 4 to 6 years with a ban on a profession up to 5 years or without it and restriction up to 1 year or without it, and under part 3 (a crime committed using official position) - for a period of 7 to 10 years with a ban on a profession for a period of up to 10 years or without it and restriction of freedom up to 2 years.

For financing extremist activities (part 1 of article 282.3), Yarovaya and Ozerov propose to impose punishment only in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 to 8 years, and for the same acts committed using official position - for a term of 7 to 10 years .

Moreover, the amendments also include a proposal to introduce Article 282.4 into the Criminal Code on the promotion of extremist activity, i.e. inducement, recruitment or involvement in a crime under Articles 280, 280.1, 282 or 282.3 or another crime of an extremist nature. For such assistance, even a single one, a punishment of 5-8 years in prison with a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles is proposed. or the salary of a convict for a term of up to 3 years or without it. For the commission of this crime using one's official position (part 2), imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years is provided with fines in the amount of 500 thousand - 1 million rubles or the income of the convicted person for 3-5 years or without it. At the same time, according to the authors of the bill, if the crime was prevented or suppressed due to the actions of the "facilitator", then he should be released from liability.

The draft law also contains amendments to the Criminal Code, which include a note on the release from punishment under articles 205, 208, 282.1, 282.2 of voluntarily surrendered persons only if they have committed a crime under the relevant article for the first time.

In addition, the bill introduced by Yarovaya and Ozerov contains a number of procedural innovations. One of the amendments (in Article 12 of the Criminal Code and Article 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) allows certain procedural actions to be carried out abroad against foreigners, if this is provided for by international treaties and other international documents under which Russia has assumed obligations.

Another amendment concerns the conduct of urgent searches and other investigative actions without obtaining judicial authorization. If now the prosecutor and the court must be notified of these actions within 24 hours, the authors of the bill propose to extend this period to three days.

Addendum to Art. 186.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure introduces the possibility for an investigator to receive, by a court decision, a user's electronic correspondence for a period of up to three years. The second bill, introduced by Yarovaya and Ozerov, obliges providers to keep this correspondence.

It also establishes, in particular, that the counter-terrorist operation regime may be introduced to suppress and reveal crimes under Art. 206, part 4 of Art. 211 and under articles 277, 278, 279, 360, if the crime involves the implementation of terrorist activities, and introduces fines for violations of anti-terrorism legislation for freight forwarders.

In addition, it is proposed to deprive Russian citizenship of those who received it, but committed a crime under articles 205-206, 208, 211, 277-282.4, 360 and 361 of the Criminal Code. An exception is made for those who have no other citizenship than Russian.

Addendum to Art. 15 of the law "On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation" provides for the introduction of a restriction on leaving the country for a period of 5 years for persons who have received warnings about the inadmissibility of crimes under articles 205, 205.1, 205.2, 205.3, 205.4, 205.5, parts 3 and 4 art. 206, part 4 of Art. 211, articles 353, 356, 357, 358, 361, as well as for everyone who has an unremoved or an outstanding conviction for committing a crime associated with terrorist activities under articles 277, 278, 279 and 360 or a crime of an extremist nature.

Sources

• Bill No. 1039101-6. On amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation in terms of establishing additional measures to counter terrorism and ensure public safety // Automated system for ensuring the legislative activities of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. 2016. April 7.
• Bill No. 1039149-6. On the introduction of amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in terms of establishing additional measures to counter terrorism and ensure public safety // Automated system for ensuring the legislative activities of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. 2016. April 7.