MOSCOW, December 2 (RAPSI) - Russia’s Investigative Committee has again proposed opening up organizations to criminal liability – specifically in cases involving drug trafficking.

“Please take note of the initiative by the Investigative Committee to introduce criminal liability for corporate entities. Criminal liability may be imposed for breaching legal drug trade regulations or for drug trafficking,” the Deputy Head of the committee, Alexander Fyodorov, announced at a roundtable discussion in the State Duma.

The Investigative Committee has proposed the imposition of criminal liability against organizations on several occasions – initially, to prosecute companies that illegally invested funds abroad.

Last March, the Head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta that, “it’s impossible to repatriate illegally exported capital without corporate criminal liability.”

Bastrykin believes that criminal liability could be introduced for offenses included in international conventions. These include funding terrorism, money laundering, environmental offenses, and drug trafficking.

In terms of penalties, the Investigative Committee is proposing fines and license revocations (including business licenses).