Lawmakers of the ruling United Russia party submitted on Jan. 22 to Russia's parliament a bill that further tightens the prosecution of people who criticize the Russian Armed Forces and call for actions to "jeopardize state security."
Russian courts recognize as defamation or a fake almost every piece of information about the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine that contradicts the Kremlin’s official position.
The new legislation would allow Russian authorities to seize the property of even those Russian citizens who criticized the Kremlin and have left the country but, for instance, still benefit from renting out their houses or apartments in Russia.
According to the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, people who break the new law would be punished with the deprivation of property, money, and honors.
"Everyone who tries to destroy Russia and betrays it must be punished accordingly and repay the damage to the country in the form of their property," Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel on Jan. 20.
Eight articles of Russia’s criminal code might be covered under the new bill, with calls for sanctions against Russia and "Nazism's rehabilitation" among them.
Most of the listed articles of Russia's criminal code were implemented after the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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