The State Duma adopted amendments to sentences from treason to life imprisonment (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to current legislation, this offense provides for a prison sentence of 12 to 20 years and a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles.
Treason means espionage, disclosure to foreigners of information constituting state secrets, defecting to the enemy or providing financial, logistical, advisory or other assistance to the state in activities directed against the Russian Federation. The right to parole for life (parole) emerges after 25 years, based on exemplary behavior.
The law also changes article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, entitled “Terrorist act”. The maximum penalty for committing acts that pose a death threat to people and aim to destabilize the situation in the country is 15 years’ imprisonment; According to the new draft law, this penalty is increased to 20 years. For “aiding terrorist activities” (205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison.
The penalty for an “act of international terrorism” (Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) can range from 12 years to life imprisonment. Now 10 to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.
Senator Alexander Bashkin said in a meeting with RIA Novosti that the Federation Council will consider the legislative initiative at a meeting on April 26. “If the State Duma approves, the Federation Council can discuss the law on April 26,” he said.
Bashkin noted that he would support the changes.
The bill was initiated by Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the State Duma Security Committee. He, along with a group of deputies, killed the military commander Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) in St. He submitted a bill for consideration on 7 April, a week after the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.
Piskarev noted on his Telegram channel https://t.me/vasilii_piskarev/674 that the increase in the maximum penalty for treason and terrorism allows the punishment to be served in institutions in special “security” facilities.
deprivation of citizenship
In addition, the Duma adopted changes to Art. 24 of the Law “On Citizenship of Russia”, which proposes to terminate acquired citizenship for a number of crimes:
– To discredit the army;
– extremist calls;
– desertion calls;
– encroachment on the life of a statesman;
– organize an armed rebellion to forcefully change Russia’s constitutional order;
– Battle calls.
The document also reduces the number of requirements for obtaining Russian citizenship for more than 20 categories of persons, and allows the president to adjust the list of conditions conferring the right to simplified acquisition.
In November 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to deprive him of acquired citizenship for “acts that threaten the security” of the country. These actions included defamation and fraud against the military, calls for violations of territorial integrity, and participation in undesirable organizations.
According to current legislation, a Russian naturalized citizen cannot be deprived of citizenship unless he makes such a decision (paragraph “a” of article 18). Within the scope of terrorist attack and terrorism-related articles, citizenship gained due to false documents and false information on naturalization, extremism, rebellion and encroachment on the life of a statesman will be revoked.
foreign agents
It was also learned that the State Duma’s foreign intervention investigation commission prepared amendments to the law on foreign agents. The head of the commission, Vasily Piskarev, noted that they may be prohibited from receiving property support from the state.
If the amendments are passed, foreign agents will be prohibited from receiving not only financial but also property support from the state (receiving aid and subsidies for small and medium businesses). The amendments state that the Department of Justice will not only monitor the activities of foreign agents, but will also receive government oversight of compliance with foreign agents-related legislation. In this case, if the ministry receives information that a particular person has “contributed to a violation of Russian law by a foreign agent”, then the department can issue a warning and give a deadline to eliminate the violation, but at least one month.
If the violation is corrected, the person is fined only up to 50 thousand rubles under the Code of Administrative Offenses, up to 100 thousand rubles for officials, up to 300 thousand rubles for legal entities.