"Foreign agents" bill passes first reading in Duma
MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - The State Duma passed in the first reading on Friday a bill proposed by United Russia deputies, classifying as "foreign agent" any Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) engaged in politics and funded from abroad.
Such NGOs will have to be registered at the Justice Ministry in a separate register and assigned a status of an organization "performing the functions of a foreign agent." The document stipulates sanctions for failure to comply with the requirements of this bill.
The bill was favored by 323 deputies, opposed by four, one abstained. The A Just Russia faction in the State Duma did not vote on the bill.
Under the bill, if an NGO is maliciously dodging its obligation to submit documentation required for being entered in the register, its representatives could face a fine up to 300,000 rubles or compulsory labor up to 480 hours. It can also impose a harsher penalty: correctional labor or a prison term of up to two years.
If an organization performing the functions of a foreign agent is carrying out its activities while not being on the relevant register, this could lead to a fine of between 300,000 and 500,000 rubles for officials and between 500,000 and one million rubles for legal entities.
Failure by a "foreign agent" NGO to provide the authorities with the information they are required to provide by law will entail a warning or a fine of 3,000-5,000 rubles for individuals, 30,000-50,000 rubles for officials, and between 500,000 and one million rubles for legal entities.
Similar sanctions will be imposed for failure to provide such information on time, in full or without misrepresentations.
Failure by a "foreign agent" NGO to stipulate its status on any material published or distributed by it, including through mass media or via the Internet, will entail a fine of 300,000-500,000 rubles for officials and between 500,000 and one million rubles for legal entities.
Setting up a religious or social organization, whose activity involves violence against individuals or can otherwise cause them physical harm, as well as running such an organization may entail a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, or incarceration of up to four years, or compulsory labor for up to four years, or imprisonment for the same amount of years.
Setting up an NGO (including those performing the functions of a foreign agent) or a structural unit of a foreign nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, whose activity involves inciting citizens to abandon their civic duties or to commit other unlawful actions, can entail a fine of up to 200,000 rubles, or incarceration of up to three years, or compulsory labor up to three years, or imprisonment for the same period. The same penalty can be imposed on the organization's management.