Russia to legally ban Nazi symbols and glorification of Nazism

Before the end of the year, the State Duma is to receive the draft law on the inadmissibility of rehabilitation and glorification of Nazism. The document is being developed by members of the Federation Council, said RBC.

The law will ban the use of Nazi symbols, signs, and forms of greeting. The penalty for wearing Nazi symbols will be toughened significantly: the fine will start from 300,000 rubles ($10,000). Violators of the law may also face a prison term of up to 2 years. Appropriate changes are proposed to Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation about extremism.

Presently, the production and sales of Nazi attributes entails an administrative fine of up to 100,000 rubles. A public demonstration of such symbols is punished with the fine of up to 1,000 rubles, or up to 15 days of administrative arrest. Thus, the rule of law will be severely tightened.

Among the authors of the document are Senators Konstantin Dobrynin, Boris Spiegel and Alexander Savenkov, who represent Arkhangelsk, Penza, and Vladimir regions respectively, said Business FM.

The bill will give definitions of key terms. In particular, the document will specify the meaning of such notions as "Nazism", "Nazi criminals", "rehabilitation of Nazism," "glorification of Nazi criminals" and "Nazi symbols."

In addition, the senators propose to establish a special committee that would struggle against the rehabilitation of Nazism, monitor the situation and prepare annual reports on the state of affairs in this field, the Izvestia newspaper wrote.