Witch hunts are no worse than bondage

The Government Commission on Legislative Activities approved on Monday another package of reviews of parliamentary initiatives. In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers is ready to support amendments providing for the confiscation of property used to spread fakes about the army and calls for activities against the security of the state. But initiatives to combat witch doctors and “stalking”, guarantees of public discussion of urban development and weapons restrictions for new Russians are proposed to be rejected.

A package of toughening amendments to the Criminal Code (CC) was developed by United Russia members Irina Yarovaya, Vasily Piskarev and Elena Yampolskaya. They decided to add Art. 280.4 of the Criminal Code (“Public calls for activities directed against the security of the state”) with qualifying criteria providing for increased liability (selfish motive or motive of hostility). It is proposed to include crimes falling under this article and committed for hire or for gain in the list (Article 104.1 of the Criminal Code), which involves the confiscation of property obtained as a result of or used to commit a criminal act. At the same time, it is proposed to confiscate the property (used to commit a crime or received as a reward for it) of those convicted of fakes about the armed forces of the Russian Federation and about the work of government agencies (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The draft review supports the initiative without reservations.

But the government commission did not want to punish the sorcerers and witches who provide “health services” to the population, to whom another United Russia member, Vitaly Milonov, drew attention. The government did not support the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses on liability for witchcraft proposed by the deputy. “The bill does not take into account that the provision of services of an occult-magical nature is not associated with the use of knowledge, skills and practical skills in assessing and restoring health,” the draft official review states. “In this regard, it is not clear how a cause-and-effect relationship will be established between the provision of services of an occult-magical nature and the resulting harm.”

The Cabinet of Ministers also considers the “New People” project to combat “stalking” unnecessary (see Kommersant, October 7, 2023). Amendments to Art. 12 of the Civil Code, which establishes the method of protecting civil rights by prohibiting certain actions (approach, contacts), it is proposed “not to be supported in the presented wording.” The government points out that the introduction of such prohibitions into the regulatory code could “lead to conflicts with the mechanisms for suppressing such actions established by procedural legislation.” Similar mechanisms, according to the position of the Supreme Court, are already contained in the Family, Housing, Criminal Procedure Codes and a number of laws, as indicated in the draft review.

The initiative of the same “New People” to prohibit officials from establishing cases that do not require public discussions or public hearings on urban development projects was also considered excessive. “This opportunity was established as part of a set of measures to support the construction industry and in order to protect national interests in connection with unfriendly actions of foreign states and international organizations,” the draft review states.

“New People” will also be denied support for the intention to guarantee parliamentary parties at least half of the seats in precinct election commissions. The bill, among other things, does not take into account the principle of equality of participants in the electoral process, the draft review says. And in small areas, a situation may even arise when the number of candidates nominated by parliamentary parties exceeds not only the legally established party quota of one-half of all PEC members, but also their total number.

The first of two initiatives to limit the right to own civilian weapons for “new Russians” (persons who received Russian citizenship less than 10 years ago), authored by communist Mikhail Matveev, also received a negative review (a similar, but with less stringent requirements, amendment was proposed by deputies from the “Fair Russia – For the truth”). Motivating its position, the government recalled the “unity and equality of Russian citizenship” for all persons who have it. At the same time, the draft review notes that the law on weapons already contains the necessary mechanisms for checking weapons buyers “for signs of danger of violating the rights and freedoms of citizens, threats to state or public security.”

Grigory Leiba