20:43, 26 July 2007

Vladimir Putin has approved amendments to the law on extremism

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has signed the Federal Law "On Amending Certain Legal Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with Improvement of State Management in the Sphere of Counteracting Extremism."

On July 24, the International Organization "Reporters Without Borders" asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to put his veto on the Law that assumed strengthening of the fight on extremism.

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that on July 11 the Upper Chamber of the Russian Parliament adopted a package of amendments, which have added public discussion of extremist actions to the definition of "extremism" and provided the law enforcement bodies with greater powers to suspend the work of the mass media that are breaching the new regulations.

The Committee on Protection of Journalists has carried out researches, which have indicated that the amendments suggested for counteracting extremism will be used to shut up the critics of the current power; therefore, the Committee called on the Russian President to put his veto on the bill with amendments.