Deputy Lugovoy proposed to rank foreign agents according to the degree of guilt and damage

State Duma Deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party Andrey Lugovoy spoke at the plenary session with a report on the law on foreign agents. He proposed to amend the law, making the procedure for introducing citizens more transparent, and “rank” the foreign agents themselves according to the degree of risk.

According to Andrey Lugovoy, the “application principle” of the Russian law on foreign agents is a “ridiculous obstacle” for those who have fallen into it, who perceive being entered into the register as “merit and honor”. The population, the deputy believes, does not understand the “true reasons” for fellow citizens to be included in the register, including because of the “formal nature” of press releases from the Ministry of Justice.

In this regard, he suggested creating a “library of foreign agents” where information about their activities would be accumulated: grounds for inclusion, explanations about sponsors, final beneficiaries, and other objective information. Thus, Andrei Lugovoi believes, the Ministry of Justice will reveal the “essence of the harmful activity” of foreign agents: “Who, why and for what services got there.”

Also, Mr. Lugovoy suggested “introducing a scale for ranking personalities according to the degree of guilt and possible damage from their activities.” “Particularly dangerous and posing a direct threat to the sovereignty of the country and national security, allocate a separate “red zone” and apply countermeasures and punishment in accordance with capital measures,” the deputy said.

The law on foreign agents appeared in Russian legislation in 2012. The criterion for inclusion in the register was the implementation of political activities while receiving foreign funding. In the summer of 2022, a law was passed according to which persons who do not receive foreign funding, but who are “supported from abroad” or who are under “foreign influence” can be included in the register.

Lusine Balasyan