MOSCOW – The Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament on Tuesday rammedthrough a harsh bill that raises fines 150-fold for people takingpart in unsanctioned rallies, a move aimed at discouraging theopposition from challenging President Vladimir Putin. The bill would jack up fines from the current 2,000 rubles to300,000 rubles ($9,000), and comes after a series of massiveprotests that have reflected growing public frustration withPutin's 12-year rule. The potential punishment is more severe thanfor many other crimes, including even violations in the storage ofnuclear materials. The opposition factions in the lower house, the State Duma, putforward several hundred amendments in an unprecedented attempt tostymie the bill's passage, reflecting a new willingness to stand upto the Kremlin. But members of the Kremlin's majority United Russia party voted theamendments down one by one during a marathon session that lastednearly six extra hours and ended just before midnight.
UnitedRussia then used its majority in the 450 seat parliament to approvethe bill in the second and third readings. The final vote was241-147. The Kremlin wants the new bill to become law by next Tuesday whenthe opposition plans a major protest in Moscow. The bill also willrequire approval by the upper house and Putin's signature, but bothsteps are formalities.
Since returning to the presidency in May, Putin has toughened hisline toward the opposition, whose protests over the winter drew upto 100,000 in an unprecedented challenge to his rule. Due to termlimits, Putin spent four years in the prime minister's seat afteralready serving two consecutive terms as president from 2000 to2008. He recently has spoken in support of the bill, saying, "We mustshield our people from radical actions." Russian authorities routinely deny permission for oppositionrallies or offer rally organizers venues away from the city center. Sergei Mironov, the leader of the Fair Russia opposition faction,said the bill was a "spit in the face of the Russian people." "This odious bill is an attempt to scare the people and shut theirmouth," he said before leading his faction out of the session hallbefore the final vote.
He and other opposition leaders warned that the law wouldexacerbate tensions in Russian society and leave the public with nofree outlet for discontent. "In the past, tightening the screws in Russia has only causedbloodshed. This is a sure path to a civil war," Gennady Gudkov ofFair Russia faction told the house. "You're assuming responsibilityfor the country's future and pushing it toward a crisis, collapseand bloodshed." Fair Russia and the Communists submitted more than 400 amendmentsto the proposed bill to slow down its passage and raise publicawareness about the legislation. "It will destroy the social peace and deepen the divide in thesociety," said Anatoly Lokot of the Communist Party.
"Instead of adialogue you are offering a big stick." Sergei Ivanov of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party, whichusually votes along with Kremlin wishes, said its members opposedthe bill. "It was the worst day in the history of the State Duma," he said."The State Duma hasn't yet seen such a shame." Several dozen opposition activists, including the leader of theliberal Yabloko party, were detained Tuesday morning outside theState Duma for holding an unsanctioned gathering. Some werereleased shortly afterward. The bill would see maximum fines for taking part in unsanctionedrallies rise from 2,000 rubles ($60) to 300,000 ($9,000).
UnitedRussia originally proposed an increase to a whopping 1.5 millionrubles ($45,000). For public officials, the maximum fine would be raised to 600,000rubles ($18,000) from the current 50,000 rubles ($1,500). In comparison, violating safety precautions in designing, buildingand using nuclear energy facilities that could cause danger orradioactive contagion is punishable by a fine of 200,000 rubles($6,000). The bill's authors also included similar punishments for any masspublic gathering even if it lacks the formal signs of a politicalprotest. That was a clear response to a series of recent creativedemonstrations in Moscow, where participants left their slogans andposters at home and walked silently so that their actions don'tformally count as rallies.
____ Maria Rybakova and Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this reportfrom Moscow. I am Chargers writer, reports some information about inline volume control , digital designs subwoofer.
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