Changes in the legislation will allow trials in absentia against citizens who have gone abroad for 20 types of crimes «against the security of the Russian Federation». These include the dissemination of military «fakes», «discrediting» the army, «calls for terrorism and extremism», «rehabilitation of Nazism», calls for «violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation», «mass riots», as well as evasion of «foreign agent» duties.
The State Duma also tightened the law on «foreign agents», supporting the initiative to include those who assist foreign organizations «acting against the interests of the Russian Federation» and involve citizens in «collecting military-technical information» about Russia in the registry. «Foreign agents» will be prohibited from engaging in educational and enlightening activities and receiving municipal support. The initiative was supported by 400 deputies.
«The adversary is seriously targeting these crucial domestic civil society institutions, aiming to have their resources there, namely foreign agents, to use their destructive influence, primarily on the youth, that is, our future. We cannot allow this», — stated Vasily Piskarev, Chairman of the State Duma on investigating foreign interference.
Additionally, changes were adopted to toughen the punishment for a number of anti-war accusations. As «Kommersant» writes, in particular, the document provides for up to seven years of imprisonment for «self-interested assistance» to international organizations in which Russia does not participate.