MOSCOW, May 30 (Itar-Tass) — The committee on constitutional legislation and state development under the State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament recommended on Wednesday to introduce differentiated fines for violations at rallies.
The lawmakers have approved a table of amendments to the high-profile bill drawn by a group of United Russia lawmakers led by Alexander Sidyakin.
"The basic article" in the Code of Administrative Offenses /KoAP/ keeps the norm stating that the fines for citizens cannot exceed 5,000 roubles and 50,000 roubles for officials. However, tougher sanctions have been introduced for violating the law on assemblies, rallies, marches and pickets and drunk appearance in public, as well as for minors' drinking beer and using drugs and psychedelic substances in public places, blocking transport lines and avoiding the serving of administrative penalty.
The maximum fine for citizens abusing the law on rallies will make up 300,000 roubles, while for legal entities it is 600,000 roubles. The committee's amendments dramatically cut the sum of proposed fines which initially was at 1.5-million roubles.
Obstructing the organization/holding a legitimate march or participation therein, or forcing participation in public events is punishable by a 10,000- to 20,000-rouble fine for citizens and a 30,000- to 50,000-roube fine for officials.
The State Duma is introducing differentiated sanctions for violating the established procedure for organizing or holding a rally. The organizers' violating the established procedure is punished by a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 roubles or 40 hours of community work, the fine for officials ranges between 15,000 and 30,000 roubles, while for legal entities it is between 50,000 and 100,000 roubles.
The fines for holding public events without due notification are 20,000 to 30,000 roubles or up to 50 hours of community work for citizens, 20,000 to 40,000 roubles for officials and 70,000 to 200,000 roubles for legal entities.
If the organizers' actions inconvenienced pedestrians or blocked traffic, required additional police personnel and equipment, or exceed the people's density norm in a given area, citizens will be fined 30,000 to 50,00 roubles or up to 100 hours of community work, officials 50,000 to 100,000 roubles and legal entities 250,000 to 500,000 roubles.
If the action /inaction/ by organizers resulted in damage to property /without criminal corpus delicti/, citizens are fined 100,000 to 200,000 roubles or 150 hours of community work, officials - 200,000 to 400,000 roubles and legal entities 350,000 to 700,000 roubles.
If a person's health has been harmed /but the organizers' actions/inaction did not contain a criminally punished act/, a fine for citizens may range between 100,000 and 200,000 roubles or 150 hours of community work, for officials 200,000 to 400,000 roubles and for legal entities - 350,000 to 700,000 roubles.
The new bill bans wearing masks by rally participants and carrying of weapons, and imposes a one-year restriction on rally organizers with outstanding criminal convictions or those with two administrative arrests on record for violations during public events.
The fines for organizing or holding unsanctioned assemblies of pickets in close proximity to a nuclear facility, a source of radiation or a storage of fissile materials or radioactive substances, as well as participation in such protest actions, if it complicated the performance of their duties by the personnel of the above facilities are 150,000 to 300,000 roubles or up to 15 days of administrative arrest.