State Duma toughens punishment for extremism

On July 4, the State Duma approved in the second reading amendments to the Law "On Counteracting Extremist Activities," to the Criminal Code and a number of other legislative acts.

After debates in the first reading, the bill caused dissatisfaction of the public, and the text of the amendments "was rewritten by 80 percent."

In particular, the norm that strengthened the punishment for participation in mass disorders from 8 to 12 years of imprisonment was dropped out of the bill, and in Article "public justification of extremism," the word "extremism" was replaced by "terrorism."

Gennady Gudkov, a member of the fraction "Fair Russia," is concerned with the fact that now, because of the new amendments, "it will be possible to tap not only suspects of committing average gravity crimes, which make the majority in the Criminal Code, but also the people who can present information on these cases, for example, a friend or a partner of a suspected banker."

The State Duma deputy is also dissatisfied with the appearance in the legislation of the notion "excitation of enmity to particular social groups." As he said, for pronouncing in public of phrases like "browned off oligarchs," now a person can be charged of extremism.