“It’s not always clear who is an enemy and who is a friend” – Kommersant FM

The document “about scoundrels and traitors” is how State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin commented on the adopted bill on confiscation of property for crimes against the security of the country and for fakes about the Russian army. Earlier, the head of the State Construction Committee, Pavel Krasheninnikov, admitted that changes to the Criminal Code concern the public, but there is no talk of a return to Stalinist times. Kommersant FM political commentator Dmitry Drize suggests that questions regarding the interpretation of the law may still arise.

The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, preceding the adoption of the document, pointed out that our state is essentially liberal, and has hitherto tolerated traitors and all sorts of dirty tricks and nasty things on their part. But all patience, as we know, has its limits.

Thus, the lower house promptly adopted a law that provides for the possibility of confiscation of property for fakes about the Russian army and public calls for activities directed against the security of the state. We will not analyze all these legislative innovations from a legal point of view here, because there are specialists for this. However, there are a number of interesting points that I would like to draw attention to.

Earlier, at the discussion stage, the head of the relevant Duma committee on state construction, Pavel Krasheninnikov, agreed that the bill was causing a strong public reaction. And there are even those who say that dark times have come again. No, that’s not true. Such statements come from ignorance or, even worse, from the desire to create another provocation, to rock the boat.

What happened under Soviet rule in general and under Joseph Stalin in particular? At that time, confiscation of property was used precisely as a form of punishment in addition to imprisonment. And the confiscation affected not only the convicted criminal himself, but also his family members. They acted harshly, without any ceremony. The current Russian state has been and remains humane. Therefore, now not all property is subject to confiscation, but only property acquired by criminal means.

In other words, if previously an enemy defamed the state and the army, he was simply imprisoned. And now they will also take away what he earned from it. Or enemies, in particular from abroad, specially hired him, and he agreed for 30 pieces of silver. All this will also be taken away. And this, apparently, will not affect relatives. We will not delve further into the nuances for lack of time.

Although many questions arise. All this needs to be proven. And how to distinguish what was acquired through criminal means and what was not acquired through criminal means?

So, in general, we can only hope that the Russian court and the investigation will look into everything in detail and the innocent will not suffer. Otherwise, if you served time before, it’s not so bad. But when the deadline comes, there’s nowhere to go back. There shines upon you, dear disrespected, a category such as homeless – without a fixed place of residence.

But still, the main thing is that Stalin’s times have not yet returned to Russia. Those who think so are wrong – this is the opinion of experts. Do you see the difference? If not, read the law more carefully. True, sometimes it is not entirely clear who is the enemy, who is the friend, and who is something in between. And this is also a little worrying.

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