Russian Parliament approves several "repressive" bills
The Russian Parliament wound up its spring session with the approval of
several “repressive” bills designed to help the Kremlin crack down on a
growing civic protest movement, according to opposition leaders.
Before going on a summer recess on Monday the State Duma, the lower
house of the Russian Parliament, rushed through three controversial laws
— one that could result in censorship of the internet, another that
imposes tough rules on foreign-funded nongovernmental groups and one
more that makes defamation a criminal offense.
The Information Act purports to combat child pornography, suicide how-to
instructions and narcotics propaganda but leaves the opportunity to
blacklist whole domains when only part of the hosted content is illegal.
The Russian-language version of Wikipedia went on strike to protest
against the internet bill, while Russia’s biggest search engine Yandex
said it “creates room for possible misuse.”
With national television channels under Kremlin control, the internet
has played a crucial role in the rise of mass anti-government protests
in recent months.
The bill on the NGOs which receive foreign funding and engage in
“political activity” requires them to register as “foreign agents” and
to submit quarterly financial reports — a costly procedure that could
force smaller NGOs to close down. In Russia, where local business is
afraid to finance opposition activity, foreign funds are often the only
lifeline for independent NGOs.
The State Duma, dominated by Kremlin loyalists, also endorsed a bill
that drastically hikes fines for “misinformation purposefully
disseminated to damage a reputation” to 5 million roubles ($156,000)
from 3,000 roubles. The law reintroduces defamation as a criminal
offence, barely six months after it was decriminalised under former
President Dmitry Medvedev. People found guilty under the new rules may
also face a maximum of 480 hours’ community service.
The three bills approved this week came on the heels of a law that
drastically raised fines for staging non-sanctioned protests or
violating the rules for a demonstration.
Opposition leaders condemned the bills as “repressive” and aimed at
silencing protests against the authoritarian political system in Russia
which brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets of Moscow and
other cities in the past few months.
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