Russia to consider law on property confiscation for 'fakes' about army
Volunteers, who joined the Russian armed forces and took military training in Chechnya, board a plane before departing for positions of the Akhmat battalion involved in Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, at an airport in Grozny, Russia, January 17, 2024. REUTERS/Chingis Kondarov/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers have prepared a bill allowing for the confiscation of money and property from people who spread "deliberately false information" about the country's armed forces, a senior member of parliament said on Saturday.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, said the measure would also apply to those found guilty of what he described as other forms of betrayal. These included "discrediting" the armed forces, calling for sanctions against Russia or inciting extremist activity.
"Everyone who tries to destroy Russia, who betrays it, must face deserved punishment and compensate for the damage inflicted on the country, at the cost of their own property," Volodin wrote on Telegram.
He said the bill would be brought to the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, on Monday.
Since sending its army into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has intensified a long-running clampdown on all forms of political dissent. Under laws passed in March of that year, discrediting the armed forces or spreading false information about them are already punishable by long jail terms.
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Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
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