The State Duma decided to introduce criminal penalties for displaying extremist symbols

The State Duma amended the draft law on the introduction of criminal liability for "public calls for action against the security of Russia", as well as for "confidential cooperation with special services of foreign states." The corresponding document is posted on the website of the lower house of parliament.

The State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation approved the amendments.

The deputies proposed to introduce a new article 282.4 of the Criminal Code on the production, distribution, public demonstration and propaganda of Nazi symbols and symbols of banned organizations. The article will involve a fine of up to one million rubles or up to four years in prison. The security forces will have the right to prosecute on it if a person has already been involved under the administrative article on the demonstration of extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

The parliamentarians also propose to supplement the Criminal Code with Article 283.2 on violation of the requirements for the protection of state secrets. According to it, it is proposed to punish with imprisonment for a term of three to seven years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years for the departure from Russia of a citizen admitted to state secrets and sending abroad carriers containing state secrets.

Another article 274.2 of the Criminal Code, which is proposed to be added, should introduce liability for repeated violation by the telecom operator of the rules for installing, operating and upgrading “technical means to counter threats to the stability, security and integrity of the operation” of the Internet in Russia and the public communications network, if this resulted in “violation work" of the Internet in Russia. The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of a fine of 700 thousand to 1.5 million rubles or imprisonment for up to three years. The same punishment is proposed to be introduced for violation of the rules for passing traffic through this equipment.

16:45 OVD-Info lawyer Dmitry Piskunov commented on the amendments: “At the moment, we do not have complete information about the content of the amendments to the second reading of this bill. While there is no text of the changes, we can only rely on quotes published by Interfax. According to the publication, lawmakers plan to toughen penalties for propaganda and display of extremist symbols. The adoption of Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code will be another step in using anti-extremist legislation to intimidate Russian society and eliminate political dissent. So far, the punishment for extremist symbols is provided for by Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) and can reach a maximum of 15 days of arrest and a fine of 2,500 rubles for individuals and 100,000 for legal entities. In the last year, this article has been actively used to put pressure on municipal deputies and supporters of Alexei Navalny. In turn, article 282.4 of the Criminal Code introduced by the bill will provide for much more severe penalties. For the demonstration, for example, the symbols of "Smart Voting" will already face a criminal conviction that limits the right to be elected, a fine of up to one million rubles and imprisonment for up to four years. Interfax does not specify whether Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code will have an administrative prejudice or Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, similar to it, is planned to be declared invalid.