Lawmakers have submitted a bill to Russia’s State Duma that would increase criminal penalties for calls to mass riots, one of its authors, Vasily Piskarev, said.
Under current Russian law, inciting riots carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The bill would raise that to four years.
Calls to riot made online would become a separate criminal offense carrying a sentence of up to six years in prison.
“Our adversaries — the collective West and the fugitive criminals, relocants, and foreign agents under its control — are not giving up their attempts to provoke our citizens into taking part in various provocations and dragging them into committing crimes,” Piskarev said, explaining the need for the legislative changes.
The bill has already received favorable reviews from the government and Russia’s Supreme Court.
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