Chechen Parliament submits to Russian State Duma bill on punishment of terrorists' family members

The Russian State Duma has registered a bill to increase penalties for terrorists and their relatives.

In the explanatory memorandum to the bill posted on the website of the Russian State Duma, Chechen MPs note the need to strengthen responsibilities of terrorist "not only for him or herself, but first and foremost for their parents and relatives."

In particular, the bill proposes to confiscate property, arrest bank accounts with confiscation of funds, and significantly toughen the punishment.

Meanwhile, the bill stipulates to confiscate "property of a convict and his or her parents or close relatives in case if it is proved that the property has been gained by them due to the activities of a person who committed a crime" or "due to aiding and abetting of relatives to a terrorist in any form."

For a terror act, the bill proposes a sentence of 15-25 years of imprisonment (at present, the law stipulates 8-15 years of imprisonment). Public incitement to terrorism or public justification are proposed to be punished by 3-5 years of imprisonment (at present, the law stipulates 2-5 years of imprisonment).

Human rights defenders hope that the Russian State Duma will reject the bill criminalizing the responsibility of relatives of terrorists.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’