A senior United Russia official has demanded debate be resumed in the Duma over introducing criminal prosecution for the rehabilitation of Nazism. The move comes after Russian opposition activist statements during Victory day celebrations.
Sergey Zheleznyak, deputy-speaker of Russia’s lower house of
parliament, has declared he was insulted by some of the online
statements made by members of the opposition movement on May 9, the
day Russia marks victory over Nazi Germany.
Zheleznyak pointed at participants of the Bolotnaya Square anti-government protests as
authors of the remarks in question. He neither gave particular
names nor specified which exact words had angered him, only citing
those loosely.
"They say that they hate parades, they consider the St. George
ribbon a fetish, they are not sure what’s better – Russia’s victory
or if Hitler had won. They think they have the right to put to
doubt our victory in the Great Patriotic War [WWII],” according
to Zheleznyak, as cited by Regnum news agency.
He demanded the bill on criminal prosecution for attempts to
justify Nazism and for questioning the USSR’s role in the WWII
victory to be back on the Duma agenda.
The proposal for the bill was submitted to the Duma in late March.
Under it, offenders could face fines of up to 300,000 rubles
(roughly US$ 9,500), or be denied the right to hold certain ranks,
or be sentenced to two years of compulsory labor or to a year in
jail.
A similar proposal has been under the Duma consideration since
2009. The older version is tougher with fines of up to 500,000
rubles (US$16,000) and potential prison term of up to five
years.