Rosfinmonitoring proposes to extrajudicially suspend banking operations of alleged terrorists, extremists, drug dealers and rally organizers

It is proposed to give the leadership of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the federal and territorial levels the right to make decisions on the suspension of banking operations for ten days.

On April 5, 2019, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) posted on the federal portal with information on the preparation normative legal acts , a draft law , according to which state bodies are endowed with emergency extrajudicial suspension powers for up to ten working days of banking transactions that they believe may be relevant to financing terrorist or extremist activities, preparing and holding public events in violation of the established procedure, as well as to drug trafficking.

Suspension of operations proposed produce " in cases of urgency, and in the presence of sufficient pre-validated and documented information of the appropriate kind.

According to the bill, in case of suspicions about the funding terrorist activities, the decision to suspend financial transactions is taken by heads of the FSB at the federal or territorial level or their deputies;

If it's about alleged financing of extremist activities, " in including mass riots of an extremist orientation , "the order comes from the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Federal Security Service of the federal or territorial level (region, subject of the federation) or their deputies, the same applies to the situation with possible illicit trafficking drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues;

Suspicion of financing the organization and (or) holding of public events with violation of the established procedure allow to make a decision on suspension banking operations to the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the federal or territorial level or their deputies;

During 24 hours after the decision to suspend operations, the relevant the department is obliged to notify the Prosecutor General or his deputies about it. The Prosecutor General's Office will be able to appeal against the decision to suspend the account, the term consideration of the protest is 48 hours, after which the results are reported Prosecutor General's Office and Rosfinmonitoring. In the event of an inaccuracy information on the basis of which the suspension of banking operations was carried out, official the person who made such a decision immediately cancels it.

After ten days, the suspension of operations is extended by a court decision for on the basis of a statement from the relevant law enforcement agency " to cancellation of such a decision in accordance with the law Russian Federation ". At the same time" in order to ensure activity of an individual "whose financial transactions were suspended, " as well as members of his family living with him, not having independent sources of income, the court may decide to appoint this person monthly allowance in an amount not exceeding the amount established in accordance with by law the subsistence minimum in the Russian Federation for corresponding category of citizens, based on the given person and each the specified member of his family ". The payment of such benefits is carried out at the expense of blocked funds of this individual.

Proposed by Rosfinmonitoring the draft law raises our concerns about possible abuses, which are very likely to occur when extrajudicial mechanisms are used, so we believe that extrajudicial blocking of funds is unacceptable. Law enforcement agencies will receive another tool preventive suppression of objectionable public activity, and their actions will directly affect the well-being of citizens against whom the proposed measures will be applied, and their families. In addition, the bill fails to understand on what basis - and for how long - such seemingly provisional measures should be authorized court after ten days. With such vague formulations, one can expect that banking operations will be suspended indefinitely, and the basis for the relevant decisions of the courts will be not only criminal sentences under anti-terrorist and anti-extremist articles, entailing arrest and confiscation means of committing a crime, and not even just the fact of criminal prosecution (as is happening now with the defendants in the list of "terrorists and extremists" of Rosfinmonitoring), but also bringing to responsibility under administrative articles or operational information collected by law enforcement agencies. For example, it is easy to assume that the accounts of activists who are suspected of organizing uncoordinated rallies will be blocked simply on the basis of these suspicions.

Sources

• Draft Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in the Part of Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Other Illegal Acts" // Normative legal acts. April 5, 2019