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Steven Seagal to protect Lake Baikal’s ecosystem

In Seagal's opinion, penalty for the lake’s pollution should be included in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Steven Seagal Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

Steven Seagal

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. Hollywood actor, director and martial artist Steven Seagal has headed a Russian ecology project of the For Truth party. He intends to take up the conservation of Lake Baikal and to seek introduction of punishment for the lake’s pollution in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

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"Lake Baikal <…> I think that it’s one of the great jewels of our planet," the actor said at a TASS online conference on Friday. He expressed concern that "people are illegally dumping petroleum, petrol by-products, <...> people are dumping all kinds of noxious toxic waste in there."

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In his opinion, penalty for Lake Baikal’s pollution should be included in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to ecologist and biologist Anna Rybalova, coordinator of the ecological project, For Truth party has a long list of tasks they are planning on implementing within the framework of this project. "We will touch upon such issues as rational woodland management. Of course, we will highlight and will continue to highlight the issues of solid domestic waste. <...> Our project on ecological monitoring already went live in one region but we will expand it," she said.

Putting spotlight on the problem

"Trying to help the environment is something that I’ve been doing since I was a very young man. I am the only actor that I know of who’s made two major environmental movies, Fire Down Below and On Deadly Ground, because movies are a way to really, really educate the entire populace in the world, because everybody, almost everybody, watches movies," the actor said.

"Now with the pandemic and everything that’s going on [people are] relying on things that they’re seeing online or the computers or the television at home. And so I think, this medium I am talking about now is something I will be relying on heavily. <…> Not only the people who are on site, at Lake Baikal, but people around the world can all listen to our message and the details and things we can do to help and really make a difference," the actor stressed.

He added that one of the goals of the project is to toughen criminal liability for the pollution of Baikal. According to him, it should involve actual incarceration, which will be discussed with the prosecution authorities.

The For Truth party led by the writer Zakhar Prilepin was founded at a convention in Moscow on February 1. The party intends to participate in the regional elections in September in 11 regions.

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