Russia makes seizing dissidents’ property easier
Don Romeo/flickr.com
The Russian State
Duma has approved a bill allowing authorities to seize the property of
Russians who have left the country without a court order, independent outlet The Moscow Times reported on May 26.
The measure, adopted in second and third readings after lawmakers added political offenses as justifications into the bill, allows property seizures to be used as a means of enforcing fines imposed under those political articles. The amendments say such seizures may be used as a "securing measure" and can be imposed at the stage of drawing up an administrative protocol, before a court reviews the case.
Novaya Gazeta reported that previously such measures could be applied only after a court decision and the start of enforcement proceedings.
Lawmakers also removed administrative arrest and compulsory labor as possible punishments for Russians who are abroad, leaving fines as the only administrative penalty for those cases. The new provision is intended to ensure those fines can be collected when the accused are outside Russia.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin defended the changes,
saying those who "fled abroad" and, as he put it, are funded by “Western
sponsors” to call for "terrorism and extremism" or to "justify
Nazism" will have to "answer for what they have done," according
to reports.
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