MOSCOW, March 25 (RAPSI) – A bill on tough punishment for violating sanitary and epidemiological rules resulting in the crowd disease or poisoning has been submitted to the lower house of parliament, according to a statement released on the United Russia party’s website.

The draft law’s authors are the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and the head of the lower house’s Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov.

The initiative in particular tightens punishment for breaching quarantine. During the coronavirus pandemic such actions increase a prompt mass virus infection hazard, according to Krasheninnikov.

According to the MP, by the second reading the document will be amended by sanctions for the distribution of fake news about coronavirus.

Now, the bill proposes such penalties for violating sanitary and epidemiological rules resulting in the crowd disease as fines from 500,000 to 1 million rubles ($6,500 – 13,000), or ban on holding certain posts for up to 3 years, or imprisonment for up to 3 years.

Sanitary rules violations led to death or committed with the intent to creat a mass decease threat are to be punished with fines from 1 to 2 million rubles ($13,000 – 26,000), profession ban for up to 5 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

If such breachs result in the death of two or more people, violators would face prison sentence of up to 7 years.

Amendments are proposed to the Criminal Code of Russia.