Three senators withdrew signatures under the draft to deprive Russians of citizenship “by birth”

The legislative initiative of four senators from Crimea, Sevastopol and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), who proposed to equalize Russians “by birth” and “by entry” in terms of terminating their citizenship, is rapidly crumbling. Immediately after sharp criticism from the head of the relevant committee of the Federation Council Andrei Klishas, ​​three of them withdrew their signatures under the scandalous bill. However, its main author does not intend to do so yet. The parliamentarians did not agree on the document with the leadership, so they received a shout, the expert believes.

The bill was introduced last Friday by senators Sergei Tsekov (represents Crimea), Ekaterina Altabaeva and Sergei Kolbin (both from Sevastopol), as well as Olga Bas (LPR). It provides for amendments to the new version of the law “On Citizenship”, which will come into force on October 26.

In its preamble, duplicating the provision of Art. 6 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (a citizen of the Russian Federation cannot be deprived of his citizenship or the right to change it), the authors decided to add: “… except in cases of its termination in the manner prescribed by this law.” And from the chapters regulating the grounds for the termination of citizenship due to the commission of crimes and actions that pose a threat to national security, it was proposed to exclude a clause that applies this rule only to naturalized Russians – those who received a Russian passport under federal constitutional law (these are residents of new regions, including Crimea and Sevastopol), under an international treaty or as a result of admission to citizenship.

In other words, the senators suggested taking away any citizenship for the aforementioned violations, including those acquired “by birth”, and not just “by entry”.

This “will improve the guarantees of the equality of citizens before the law, the equality of the constitutional and legal status of all subjects of the Russian Federation,” the explanatory note to the draft says.

Recall that the presidential law “On Citizenship”, adopted in April by the Parliament, expanded the list of criminal offenses that entail its termination. In addition to crimes of a terrorist and extremist orientation, they include crimes against sexual integrity, illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs, treason, espionage, discrediting the army, damaging military graves, encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer and other grave and especially grave acts.

The short story caused a heated discussion in the Federation Council back in the spring. Then Sergei Tsekov was indignant that the norm would apply to the inhabitants of Crimea, but would not affect Russians from the “old” regions: “Whatever crimes you commit, you will still remain a citizen.” In response, Andrey Klishas, ​​head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, explained that the commission of a number of crimes is considered a violation of the oath given by naturalized Russians, and that this mechanism has long been provided for by the current law, and now we are only talking about clarifying it, taking into account modern realities. But this answer did not suit Mr. Tsekov. “There is no equality here,” the senator insisted.

On Friday, Andrei Klishas reacted sharply to the idea of ​​his colleagues to select citizenship “by birth”, advising them to read the Basic Law.

“If a federal politician, including a senator, introduces a law that is contrary to the Constitution, then for such a politician this is a serious reason to think about whether he can hold his office,” said the head of the relevant committee.

And the very next day, Ekaterina Altabayeva, Sergei Kolbin and Olga Bas withdrew their signatures on the bill, and, judging by the Duma database, they did it simultaneously – within half an hour. It is unclear what caused the sudden change in position: Ms. Altabayeva did not answer Kommersant’s calls, Kommersant failed to quickly contact Senators Kolbin and Bas.

At the same time, Sergei Tsekov is not going to withdraw his initiative.

He told Kommersant that he considers the possible termination of the citizenship of residents of the regions annexed last fall to be a justified temporary measure, since a “difficult situation” is developing there, but does not understand why Crimea, which has been part of Russia for almost ten years, was among them. “Everything is smeared with the same paint,” the senator complained. He cited as an example the Russians from the Russian Volunteer Corps who are fighting for Ukraine, whose passports cannot be taken away under the current law – “it would be right to equalize everyone.” Why Altabaev’s colleagues, Kolbin and Bas withdrew their signatures, Mr. Tsekov found it difficult to say, but he assured Kommersant that no one had approached him with such a demand.

Wanting to look like “greater patriots than the president,” the senators decided to “hype,” but did not calculate the consequences, political scientist Konstantin Kalachev believes: “When former citizens of Ukraine begin to teach others how to properly love their homeland, this is already too much. I want to prove my patriotism – then live by the rules. And the rules say that such initiatives must be coordinated and not go over the heads of the leadership with them.

Andrew Ashes