MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI) – Lawmakers of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, have drafted a bill establishing criminal liability for attempts to glorify Nazis or rehabilitate Nazism, the Deputy Chairman of the upper house's Constitutional Legislation Committee Konstantin Dobrynin said Monday.

The current federal law aimed at combating Nazism and related propaganda is “disordered,” according to Dobrynin. The draft bill strives to unify legislative norms. Dobrynin believes his bill has a better chance because it is practical. 

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."

The idea to prosecute individuals who justify Nazi crimes was revealed in June 2013 by the Sate Duma lawmakers. Irina Yarovaya, together with a group of supporters from the All-Russia People's Front, reportedly 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.