MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin supports the law enforcers’ active struggle against false reports about the scale of the coronavirus spread in Russia, Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov told the media.
"This is absolutely correct in a situation like this, because media rumors and fakes often trigger a rather painful reaction from the people and stoke tensions, which should be avoided," he said. "In such situations it must be punishable by law."
Peskov added that he knew nothing about excessively strict measures by the law enforcers. Commenting on an incident in which a social network user was fined 300,000 rubles (nearly $4,000) for spreading allegations the authorities were purportedly concealing the real scale of the coronavirus infection in the region, the spokesman said that if it was an open account, then the incident should be interpreted as an attempt to spread false information in the world web.
"The law enforcers’ measures were totally justified," he concluded.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has created a working group for the prevention of attempts to spread false information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in the country. Dissemination of coronavirus fakes is chargeable under part 1 of article 237 of the Criminal Code (distortion of information about events, facts and phenomena that pose a threat to people’s life and health) and part 4 of article 128.1 of the Criminal Code (slanderous statements that a person suffers from a disease posing a threat to others). Whilst under part 1 of article 237 of the Criminal Code those responsible for spreading fakes might face a fine of up to 300,000 rubles to two years of compulsory works or imprisonment, the other article envisages a fine that is ten times larger. Thus under part 4 of article 128.1 of the Criminal Code culprits may be fined up to 3,000,000 rubles ($40,000) or a three-year wage. Up to 400 hours of mandatory works is an alternative.
An outbreak of the novel coronavirus-related disease in central China late last year has spread to more than 190 countries. The World Health Organization has declared a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, more than 549,200 people have contracted the virus around the world. The disease has claimed 24,860 lives. In Russia, 1,036 patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Forty five have recovered and been released from hospital. Three died.