Russia sees a 33% increase in charges of 'extremism'
The number of those convicted of extremism in Russia last year has increased by about a third, according to the website of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court, as reported by Current Time.
According to the "Main statistical indicators of activity of courts of general jurisdiction in 2015," (Articles 280, 282, 282.1, 282.2 of the Criminal Code) 544 people were convicted of extremism in 2015. In accordance with the same articles, 414 sentences were handed down in 2014.
The Central and Volga Federal Districts are leading regions, with 122 individuals convicted in each. The regions with least number of convicted individuals are the Far Eastern District (29 people) and the Crimean Federal District (5 people).
On April 7th, the Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption, Irina Yarovaya, and the Chairman of the Security and Defense Committee of the Federation Council, Viktor Ozerov, proposed a new package of anti-terrorism laws.
The deputies proposed to amend the minimum term that an offender is sentenced to for committing a terrorist act. Instead of eight years in prison, they want the sentence to be changed to ten. Criminal liability for terrorism under the new law will start from the age of 14.
The bill also proposes to deny a person the right to leave the country for five years, if he has a criminal record for at least one of the following offenses: the infringement on life of an official or public figure, violent seizure of power, forcible retention of power, armed riots or extremism that wasn't expunged.