Increase in fines and terms: Putin signed a law to toughen punishment for drunk driving

On Thursday, July 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a series of laws that affect the public life of citizens.

Perpetuation of Victory

Two laws concern the memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War.

One of them introduces amendments to the law "On the perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." The document prohibits publicly (in particular, in the media and the Internet) to identify the goals, decisions and actions of the Soviet leadership, command and military personnel with the actions of Nazi Germany and the Axis countries during World War II, as well as to deny the decisive role of the Soviet people in the defeat of the Nazis and humanitarian mission of the USSR during the liberation of European countries.

“We consider it categorically unacceptable to mix and (or) identify the actions of the defenders of the Motherland, those who gave their lives in the struggle for its freedom and independence, the actions of the liberation soldiers, with the actions of the occupying soldiers, persons convicted of crimes aimed at destroying peoples. in accordance with the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the trial and punishment of the main war criminals of the European Axis countries (the Nuremberg Tribunal), ”the explanatory note says.

The second law, signed by Vladimir Putin, amends Article 6 of the Federal Law "On the Perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Countering Extremist Activity."

The document is aimed "at preventing the glorification of war criminals on the territory of our country, tens of millions of citizens of which have become victims of the monstrous fascist regime of Germany and its allies."

The public display of images of Hitler and other leaders of the Third Reich convicted by the international Nuremberg military tribunal is prohibited.

“Unfortunately, such laws have to be passed, because indeed now in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe, in some states, neo-Nazis and people, politicians who are trying to somehow revise the results of the Second World War, the Nuremberg Tribunal, and the very notions of“ nationalism ”are raising their heads, Somehow to soften "fascism".

This, of course, is unacceptable, Russia has consistently advocated that all these issues become a thing of the past once and for all, but so far it is necessary to take such harsh measures, including at the legislative level, in order to resist this pernicious influence, " said RT a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Anton Morozov.

Criminal liability for involvement in the activities of unwanted NGOs

In addition, Vladimir Putin signed a law criminalizing participation in the work of international or foreign non-governmental organizations recognized as undesirable in Russia.

So, for organizing their activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, they may face imprisonment for a term of two to six years.

Participation in the activities of an undesirable NGO will result in a fine in the amount of 300,000 to 500,000 rubles, and the term of imprisonment can range from one to four years.

Providing or collecting funds in favor of an organization will be punishable by compulsory labor for up to 360 hours, forced labor for up to four years with possible restraint of liberty for up to two years, as well as imprisonment for a term of one to five years.

"Landing" of IT giants

Vladimir Putin signed a bill according to which large foreign IT companies will be obliged to open branches or representative offices in Russia.

The requirement will apply to information resources, the daily audience of which is more than 500 thousand users in Russia.

Their owners will have to create branches, open representative offices or establish Russian legal entities that will "fully represent the interests of the parent companies", as well as interact with national regulators.

As follows from the explanatory note to the document, we are talking about companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter.

“The law is absolutely technical, almost all large countries follow this path, where a large population, where this population actively uses social networks, various aggregators, search engines, large IT systems, including for doing business, for communication, for obtaining information. This allows citizens of the country in which such legislation has been adopted to have full protection of their accounts, to have clear and transparent relationships with these IT giants in the commercialization of their accounts, many users use accounts to conduct business, "the deputy explained in a conversation with RT. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Andrei Svintsov.

As previously noted by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, foreign policy efforts are getting an effective tool for full-fledged work in this direction.

“An important step has been taken towards the establishment of clear rules for regulating the Internet space, designed to exclude the situation when digital companies operating in the Russian market, earning money on Russian citizens, will be able to violate their rights and interests with impunity and ignore our laws,” she said.

Stricter responsibility for driving a vehicle while intoxicated

Another bill concerns tougher penalties for repeated driving while intoxicated.

So, the term of imprisonment for this is increased from two years to three.

The size of the fine also increases - from 300 to 500 thousand rubles instead of 200-300 thousand rubles or in the amount of the convict's salary or other income for a period of two to three years (previously, from one to two years).

“All these steps will reduce road accidents and the number of victims of a drunk driver,” said Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin.

According to the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transport and Construction Vladimir Afonsky, the legislative initiative is extremely important to "once and for all prohibit drunkenness while driving."

“The state of alcoholic intoxication is currently an aggravating circumstance in the legislation, but, apparently, not everyone has yet understood that if you get behind the wheel, a person must be sober, because otherwise he poses a threat to the safety of all road users.

In this regard, I believe that this law is very correct, very necessary and meets the requirements of today and the request of civil society, "the parliamentarian explained in an interview with RT.

Strengthening of liability for crimes in the sphere of arms trafficking

Also, the head of state signed a law to toughen responsibility for crimes in the sphere of arms trafficking, including alteration and illegal sale.

For this, they will face imprisonment for a term of four to six years (previously, from three to five years).

In addition, the illegal sale of ammunition, firearms and their components is now classified as a serious crime, and the sale of explosive devices is subject to up to 20 years in prison.

Criminal liability is introduced for the illegal sale of pneumatic weapons with a muzzle energy of over 7.5 J. The sanction is up to four years in prison.

The illegal manufacture of such weapons will be punishable by two years in prison.