MOSCOW, December 23 (RAPSI) – The State Duma has approved in the third and final reading a bill criminalizing willful evasion of responsibility to present documents necessary for registration as a foreign agent, according to a statement published on the official website of the lower house of Russia’s Parliament.

The document envisages punishments for failure to present the required data ranging from fines up to 300,000 rubles ($4,000), or equal to the amount of salaries or other incomes of the person convicted for such a violation received over a period up to 2 years, or compulsory community service for up to 480 hours, or corrective labor for up to 2 years, or imprisonment for the same time, the statement reads.

Similar punishments are to be applied for violations of the procedures governing the activities of foreign mass media designated as foreign agents, or established by such Russian legal persons functioning as foreign agents.

Repeated failures to submit applications for registration as foreign agents or present reports about respective activities by persons earlier brought to administrative liability for such failures entail similar fines, community service, or imprisonment for up to 5 years.