Crime & Justice

Putin signs law to seize assets for spreading fake news against Russian army

Moscow, Feb 14 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin promulgated a law that allows the government to confiscate assets of those spreading false news about the army on Wednesday.

Under the new law, set to come into force within 10 days, money, securities, and property used to finance activities threatening Russian territorial integrity will be requisitioned.

The law has expanded the list of crimes under the Russian Criminal Code that are punishable by confiscation of property, the state-owned Tass news agency reported.

Discrediting the army, calling for extremist actions or sanctions on Russia and Russian nationals, and rehabilitating Nazism will be punished with confiscation.

The law also penalizes those assisting the implementation of decisions made by foreign government agencies and international organizations of which Russia is not a member, Tass reported.

Rights groups have accused Putin of stifling free speech and independent media to silence voices critical of the government in the past.

But Presidential press secretary Dmitri Peskov stressed Wednesday that the law will not be applied in the manner of the Soviet era.

The new law has nothing in common with the confiscations that were carried out during the Soviet era and such fears were unfounded, Peskov told the media.

In recent years, Putin has cracked down on dissent, targeting the country’s independent media and the political opposition with bans and imprisonment.

He has further tightened his grip on power in the country in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. EFE

mos/up/sc

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