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President to be empowered to protect Russians from foreign persecution — amendments

The initiative was drafted and submitted to the lower house of parliament by members of the State Duma, including its Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and the leaders of its factions

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The Russian president will be empowered to protect Russian citizens in the event of unlawful decisions by foreign or international organizations, as follows from proposed amendments to a government bill, obtained by TASS.

The amendments are being made to the government’s bill, approved in the first reading, which allows all military servicemen who have received prior special training to take part in peacekeeping activities.

It is proposed to supplement the bill with a new article introducing amendments to the law On Security. The president will be empowered to take measures for the protection of Russia and its citizens "in case of decisions or actions being taken by foreign and (or) international (inter-) state bodies (organizations) to the detriment of the interests of Russia and (or) the fundamental principles of Russia’s public order."

The initiative was drafted and submitted to the lower house of parliament by members of the State Duma, including its Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and the leaders of its factions. It is also proposed to introduce amendments to Russia’s Criminal Code, stipulating responsibility for assistance in enforcing the decisions of such organizations.

The Duma speaker issued instructions to draft these amendments at a meeting on introducing amendments to Russia’s legislation prohibiting the activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the territory of Russia.

On March 17, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and presidential commissioner for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of "illegal deportation" of Ukrainian children. Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow did not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the ICC decisions do not have any significance for Russia and that possible arrest warrants were legally null and void.

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