MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed an initiative on criminal liability of up to imprisonment for humiliation of honor and dignity of veterans of the Great Patriotic War into law, according to the official website of legal information.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed the bill on March 17. The upper house of Russian parliament, the Federation Council, approved it on March 31.
The liability introduced by the amendments has already been in force as to the rehabilitation of Nazism and involves imprisonment for up to five years and sets a fine of up to 5 million rubles ($68,000 at the current exchange rate). There is a general rule that the minimum threshold of liability makes two months in detention and, accordingly, 5,000 rubles ($68), according to an author of the amendments, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya.
The changes in the legislation are to be introduced for the purpose to prevent illegal actions aimed at denying the fact that the value of the heroic deeds of the veterans for all citizens of Russia and the world is not diminished by the passage of time.
Moreover, the document envisages criminal punishment of up to 5 years in prison for justification of Nazism with the use of the Internet. Companies distributing such information will also face administrative fines ranging from 3 to 5 million rubles.
Among the authors of the amendments are also Chair of the State Duma's Committee on Defense Vladimir Shamanov, Chair of the Committee on Informational Policy Alexander Khinshtein and his First Deputy Sergey Boyarsky; lawmakers from all other political parties represented in the lower house of Russia’s parliament joined those deputies from the United Russia party. Among them are the First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov (Communist Party), member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Corruption Control Andrey Lugovoy (LDPR), and First Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation Mikhail Yemelyanov (Just Russia).
