MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted a bill to parliament’s lower house outlining punishments for a number of terror-related offenses, including criminal liability for training in terrorist camps, according to a copy of the bill posted Friday to the State Duma’s online database.
According to the document, individuals would face up to 10 years in prison for training “with the aim of effecting terrorist activity,” while those who have established a terrorist group would face up to 15 years behind bars.
Individuals deemed to have been part of a terrorist group or to have trained to commit acts of terrorism may be freed from criminal liability if they cooperate with investigators and provide them with useful information, the bill says.
The proposed legislation also calls for up to six years in prison for anyone convicted of taking part in an “armed formation” not sanctioned by Russian federal law, or one operating on the territory of another country “with aims contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation” and not sanctioned by the national laws there.
Russian officials have recently said that hundreds of Russian nationals are believed to be fighting on the side of the rebels in Syria’s civil war. Earlier this week, Putin warned at a high-level meeting that terrorism could spill over from Syria to Russia and its neighbors from the former Soviet Union.
The new bill likewise stipulates closer scrutiny toward property belonging to the relatives and loved ones of people who have “committed a terrorist act,” with the goal of verifying whether such money or goods were acquired legally. As of Friday afternoon, the bill had been sent to two Duma committees for their comments.
