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Duma to consider decrease in fines for rally violations

Under the document, the minimal sum of fines for citizens should be cut from 10,000 roubles to 5,000 roubles

MOSCOW, February 28 (Itar-Tass) - A bill on lower fines for violations at rallies was submitted to the State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament on Thursday. It was drawn by Ilya Ponomaryov, a member of A Just Russia Party, and is aimed at implementing the Constitutional Court's decision dated February 13.

Under the document, the minimal sum of fines for citizens should be cut from 10,000 roubles to 5,000 roubles. The stiff fines for officials and legal entities will not be changed, according to the explanatory note to the bill placed on the parliament’s website.

Also, the bill takes out community work from the list of administrative penalties applied to natural persons who breached the law during mass events, if these offenses did not result in damage to property or a person's health.

The new legislation commits the government bodies to "allocate special places for public discussion of significant issues in each municipality" /the so-called hyde parks/.

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