Deputies argued about how and what to confiscate from “scoundrels”
The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted today in the first and third final readings a law providing for the confiscation of property, money and valuables for disseminating deliberately false information about the army, as well as for financing crimes against Russia.
Unlike the first reading, when a communist deputy and two members of the New People faction voted against it, the law was finally adopted unanimously.
Deputy Chairman of the State Construction Committee Irina Pankina, who presented the bill, clarified that confiscation in this case “is not a type of punishment, but a measure of a criminal legal nature.”
“It would seem a small, but fundamentally significant nuance that distinguishes that Soviet version of confiscation, when anything could be confiscated, from the current confiscation, the purpose of which is the confiscation of instruments of crime, what was acquired by criminal means and what is aimed at carrying out criminal activities. And this will need to be proven,” Pankina said.
This interpretation did not suit the deputy from A Just Russia Oleg Nilov.
“You don’t need to stop at this first step. Something was said that did not satisfy me. Only what was used to carry out harmful activities will be confiscated. What is this? The computer, the golden phone in which he does the watering? Why don’t we confiscate other property?” he said indignantly.
LDPR deputy Andrei Lugovoi believes that the law should have been adopted back in 2022, because it serves as a preventive measure against the commission of these crimes. According to the LDPR, after the adoption of laws on foreign agents, views of videos of “fifth columnists” decreased by half over the year.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin once again called the confiscation law “the law on scoundrels.”
“This is a bill about scoundrels and traitors - those who today spit in the backs of our soldiers, betraying their Motherland, and transfer money to the Armed Forces of the country that is at war with us. Citizens did everything for these people to ensure that they lived comfortably, received honorary titles, awards, and property. And today they use these funds and property to spoil the country, betraying its soldiers and officers, throwing mud at them and criticizing them,” Volodin said.
This formulation simply infuriated foreign agent, extremist and former State Duma deputy Dmitry Gudkov.
“I’ll correct Volodin a little. The law on confiscation of property, the speaker of House No. 6 called the law on scoundrels. No, Mr. Volodin. This is the law of scoundrels. Previously, you were swindlers, thieves and scoundrels there - and now you have become scoundrels. They earned themselves a new Putin order. Wear it with pride,” Gudkov poured out his bile in his tg channel.
Liberal lawyer Ivan Pavlov reassures his clients: the new law is more frightening than it poses a real danger.
“The goal is precisely this - to create an atmosphere of fear among those who may protest, as well as to frighten Russians who have left the country. But when lawyers begin to read into the meaning of the words contained in the bill, it becomes clear that the bill is not as terrible as its discussion. What can they take away from a person accused of spreading “fake news”? They can take away the phone from which he distributed the information.
They can seize the computer if they establish that it was from it that this or that message was distributed on social networks. But no more. If all this is proven, then property in the form of this amount will be subject to confiscation. But this is a hypothetical, absurd case that has nothing to do with reality,” Pavlov said in an interview with the foreign agent TV channel Dozhd.
However, deputy Olga Zanko is already proposing, as soon as the law is adopted, to deprive foreign agents of their honorary titles: the former editor of Novaya Gazeta Dmitry Muratov and the husband of the singer Maxim Galkin, who was popular in the last century.
“The situation is changing, and responsibility in the form of deprivation of awards and property is much more terrible than other punishments for these persons who are abroad. I will send parliamentary requests asking them to check their actions for signs of a criminal offense. Let law enforcement agencies and the court decide,” Zanko wrote.
Political scientist Alexei Chesnakov regarded her post as a sign of elite consensus.
“Here is yet another proof that there is no turning back. The direct consequences of the adoption of the new law are unlikely to be long in coming. Elite consensus works. The procedure ends. The lists have been compiled. Potential culprits have been identified. Everything is within the framework of political logic and new norms,” he wrote.
Military expert Boris Rozhin believes that the first enforcement of the new law will occur in February.
“Characters like Chkhartishili or Ulitskaya get ready. Opportunities to make money in Russia will quickly end,” writes Rozhin.
English version :: Read in English Deputies debated how and what to confiscate from "scoundrels"