Russia’s Senators Approve ‘Anti-Opposition’ Bills

Bills branding many NGOs “foreign agents,” criminalizing defamation of character and creating an internet blacklist were approved on Wednesday by the Russian Federation Council. All the bills will have to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. No date for a signing was set on Wednesday. The bill on NGOs requires all politically active nongovernmental groups who receive foreign funding to publicly label themselves “foreign agents.” Failure to comply can result in jail terms of up to four years for NGO employees. Defamation, decriminalized by then-President Dmitry Medvedev in 2011, is now set to be punishable with fines of up to 5 million rubles ($150,000), but no jail terms. The government is also poised to obtain the right to create a blacklist of websites that can be banned over their content. Only websites promoting illegal drugs, child abuse or suicide will be eligible for extrajudicial bans. The three controversial bills were criticized by many rights activists, who insisted they were aimed to pressure the political opposition. The ruling United Russia party, which fast-tracked the bills through the parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, denied any political motivation to the laws.

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