[ad_1]
New laws were passed in January and February, officially announced on Wednesday, when tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln and the Putin government ahead of parliamentary elections this fall.
Protesters sentenced to a new conviction for disobedience to law enforcement officials were sentenced to up to 20,000. rubles (224 euros) or 30 days in prison. The maximum fine previously foreseen was 5,000. rubles (almost 56 euros).
Protesters who disobeyed law enforcement officials for the first time will have to pay from 2,000. up to 4 thousand. rubles (22-44 euros) fine (instead of the four times lower fines provided above) or they will receive 15 days of arrest or 120 hours of community service.
A fine of up to LTL 20,000 is imposed for violation of the fundraising procedure or failure to comply with the procedure for organizing “public events.” rubles or work of public benefit.
In Russia, unauthorized protests by the government are prohibited.
Putin also signed a law that provides for up to 2.5 thousand. fines (28 euros) for publishing information on organizations classified as “foreign agents” without using the corresponding label.
Groups classified as “foreign agents” in Russia must disclose their sources of funding and mark their posts with the corresponding “foreign agent” tag. Penalties are provided for non-compliance with these requirements.
viburnum
The Russian president also signed a law that provides for up to $ 1 million. rubles (11.2 thousand euros) for social media giants like Facebook and Twitter for obstructing the development of Russia’s “sovereign Internet”.
In 2019, Russia passed a law on the development of the “sovereign Internet”, which aims to separate the country’s Internet from the global network. Human rights activists fear the move will tighten government control in cyberspace and stifle free speech.
Putin accuses the West of “encircling” Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on the national intelligence agency to protect the country from attempts to “surround” the country after the European Union agreed to new sanctions against Moscow.
Russia-West relations have reached their lowest level since the Cold War, with the recent decision by the EU and the United States to impose new criminal measures on the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln.
Addressing the Federal Security Service (FSB) in his annual speech, Putin said the West was “trying to surround us with economic and other sanctions.”
“We are faced with an alleged Russian containment policy,” he said.
“This is not about competition, but about a constant and very aggressive way of working, which aims to interrupt our development, slow it down, create problems on our borders,” Putin added.
According to the Russian leader, the West is taking various measures “from the arsenal to the special services.”
Such efforts are aimed at “causing instability within the country, eliminating the values that unite the Russian people, and ultimately weakening Russia and controlling it from the outside,” he said.
Earlier this month, Putin accused the West of using Navalnu, which he said was backed by the US security services, to “suppress” Russia. The term was used to describe America’s strategy toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
On Wednesday, the Russian leader called on the FSB to make the West a priority in its work this year, putting it alongside the prevention of terrorism.
“The suppression of any attempt to usurp the right of the Russian people to make their own decisions about their future should also be in their focus,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council, accused the West of not abandoning sanctions imposed on Moscow, despite the global economic recession caused by the pandemic.
This week, the EU agreed to new sanctions against four Russian officials for jailing Navaln.
The EU has repeatedly imposed sanctions on Russia on several occasions for the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and incitement to war in eastern Ukraine.
It is not allowed to publish, quote or reproduce the information of the BNS news agency in the media and on websites without the written consent of the UAB “BNS”.
[ad_2]
