Russia to tighten penalties for violating the rules of demonstrating

MOSCOW: On Tuesday, Russian lawmakers voted in a second reading in favor of a bill providing for increased penalties for violating the rules governing demonstrations, a few days after the suppression of protests in favor of the arrested opposition Alexei Navalny.

The proposal was submitted by a deputy from the ruling United Russia party to the State Duma in November, and specifically provides for fines of up to 4,000 rubles (44.5 euros), four times the current amount, if it refuses to comply with police orders.

He also called for higher fines for violating the standards governing fundraising and spending in order to organize a demonstration.

A third reading of the bill, which will undoubtedly be adopted, is scheduled for Wednesday, with the text being studied by the Federation Council, that is, the Senate.

Russia has been intensifying sanctions of this kind and procedures for obtaining a permit to organize protests in recent years.

This new initiative comes a few months before the holding of legislative elections in Russia, scheduled for September, while the popularity of the ruling United Russia party is declining.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in late January in 100 Russian cities at the invitation of the opposition, Navalny, to demand his release.

These unauthorized gatherings resulted in the arrest of about 10,000 people.

On January 17, Navalny, the most prominent critic of the Kremlin, who wants to influence the upcoming legislative elections, was jailed and has since been sentenced to three years in prison.

The opposition believes that the Kremlin is seeking to silence him by placing him in prison, after he failed to kill him last August by poisoning him, accusations that the Russian authorities reject.