MOSCOW, June 27 (RAPSI) - The Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, has proposed a law on Nazism as an alternative to the document earlier prepared by the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Thursday.

The alternative bill was drafted by Konstantin Dobrynin, the Deputy Chairman of the upper house's Constitutional Legislation Committee. 

Izvestia reported earlier that Duma Deputy Irina Yarovaya and a group of supporters from the Russian Popular Front on Monday proposed adding an article to the Criminal Code stipulating fines and prison terms for trying to deny or justify Nazi crimes and criminals, or for condemning the anti-Hitler coalition's actions.

According to the Duma bill, any statement denying that the anti-Hitler coalition countries' armies acted to support global peace, and spreading false information about their actions, will be punished with a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,160).

If false information is proliferated through an individual's office or via the media, the fine will be increased to 500,000 rubles ($15,200). The perpetrator will also face up to five years in prison and will not be allowed to hold any positions of importance for the next three years.

The bill drafted in the Federation Council offers clearer definitions. 

The term "rehabilitation of Nazism and glorification of Nazi criminals and their accomplices" is interpreted as "the restoration of the rights, the issuance of state or public awards and the provision of other state and public incentives for Nazi criminals and their accomplices, the public justification of the Nazi ideology and practices, and the public promotion of the Nazi ideology or any other public actions glorifying Nazi criminals."

At the same time, both bills propose a similar punishment. 

The upper house proposes fines ranging from 100,000 rubles ($3,040) to 500,000 rubles ($15,200) depending on the gravity of the crime, correctional labor of up to two years, compulsory labor of up to five years or prison terms ranging from two to five years. 

Dobrynin believes his bill has more chances because it proposes a practical way to do away with Nazism.

Yarovaya has declined to comment on the initiative of the upper house colleagues, stating that this is the first time she has heard about the bill. 

The Berlin Declaration of June 5, 1945 includes a list of Anti-Hitler Coalition countries, the initiators of the Duma bill said in an explanatory note. It also lists the countries that fought on the side of the aggressor. Article 107 of the UN Charter states that any reassessment of the international tribunal decisions, such as approving the Nazis' aggressive policy or denying their crimes in occupied territories, is an international crime.