MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI) – The State Duma passed a draft law on stiff criminal and administrative penalties for rehabilitation of Nazism with the use of Internet in the first reading on Wednesday, a statement published on the website of the parliament’s lower house reads.

The bill is to ensure complex protection of the historical memory and inevitability of punishment for all guilty of rehabilitation of Nazism, according to the bill’s explanatory note.

Current law envisages criminal responsibility, including fines from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles and imprisonment for up to 5 years, for persons publicly denying of acts established by the International Military Tribunal at Nurenberg with the use of media and job position. The draft law adds the use of Internet to the circumstances for tougher responsibility.

The legislative proposal also stipulates administrative fines ranging from 500,000 to 3 million rubles ($6,500 - $40,000) for companies publicly distributing information containing denial of facts established by the International Military Tribunal at Nurenberg, welcome for crimes established by the Tribunal’s sentence. The fines are also to be imposed for fake information about the USSR actions during World War II published on the internet or by mass media.