MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Federation Council has approved a law building up from the legislation on foreign agents to enhance the struggle against foreign interference.
Last summer, the Russian parliament adopted a law, later signed by the president, On Control over the Activities of Persons under Foreign Influence. The law summarized all regulations concerning foreign agents that were in force at that moment and introduced a number of new provisions.
"Already then, we were aware that it would require significant changes and amendments to the existing sectoral laws. For that reason, December 1, 2022 was set as the date of the law’s entry into force," said one of the authors of the bill, head of the interim commission of the Federation Council for the protection of state sovereignty and the prevention of interference in the internal affairs of Russia Andrey Klimov.
The act that was approved on Wednesday amends 39 sectoral laws "to ensure terminological and content consistency" with the law on the control over the activities of foreign agents and to establish restrictions for persons recognized as foreign agents.
"These laws fully ensure the functioning of the basic law," the senator said.
In particular, the document equates to information harmful to the health and development of children all information products produced by a foreign agent for minors. The law bans rallies, processions and demonstrations on the premises of railway stations, airports, educational organizations and areas adjacent to the buildings of public authorities. At the same time, the ban will not apply to public worship and other religious rites and ceremonies stemming from the historical, cultural and other objective features of Russia’s constituent territories.
The law establishes the right of the authorized body of power, its territorial branch and their officials, acting within the framework of exercising control over the activities of foreign agents, to request and receive from the tax authorities information regarding the names and locations of banks and other credit institutions where the persons in question have bank accounts, and also the accounts’ types and numbers.
The law is effective as of the day of its official publication.