Russians face criminal charges for concealing their second citizenship
Moscow - Simferopol, May 20 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - The State Duma decided to maintain criminal liability of Russians for concealing a second citizenship, despite criticism from the government and the Supreme Court. This will allow searches and examinations of those who seem suspicious. Those traveling abroad will be the first to be targeted by the special services, writes RBC. The law directly affects Crimeans who decide not to throw away their Ukrainian passport.
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The Constitutional Committee of the State Duma yesterday approved amendments to the bill on criminal liability for concealing a second citizenship, introduced by LDPR deputy Andrei Lugovoi. The project was contained in a package of ideas by Senator Andrei Klishas, approved by President Vladimir Putin at an April meeting with the leadership of the Federation Council.
The bill approved by the committee obliges Russians to notify the Federal Migration Service of the presence of a second citizenship, residence permit or other document giving the right to permanently live in another country. The original version of the document required notification only of second citizenship.
For failure to notify the FMS of another citizenship, Russians will face administrative and criminal liability (in the original version of the project only criminal liability was provided for). An administrative fine of 500-1000 rubles. provided for late submission of a notification, provision of incomplete or knowingly false information in the notification. Criminal punishment – a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles. or up to 400 hours of compulsory work - will threaten those who do not submit a notification of having another citizenship.
RBC's interlocutor at the Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that an investigator or operative, having received operational information about second citizenship, will turn to the citizen for confirmation of this fact. If it turns out that he forgot or was too lazy to report himself, he only faces administrative liability.
If a person persists, this will be regarded as deception and a reason for initiating a criminal case. To expose him, operatives can obtain information from border posts - air, road, sea or railway, from other states, or find direct evidence from the suspect himself, finding his second passport or other documents, in particular during a search or inspection, wiretapping or reading electronic mail.
The law will come into force after its approval by the Federation Council and signing by the President of the Russian Federation.
English version :: Read in English Russians face criminal charges for concealing their second citizenship