Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Wednesday that will allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading 鈥渄eliberately false information鈥 about the country's military.
The bill sailed through the lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament, and was unanimously endorsed by the upper house last week.
The speaker of the lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the measure includes harsher punishment for 鈥渢raitors who sling mud at our country and our troops鈥 and would 鈥渟trip those scoundrels of honorary titles, confiscate their assets, money and other valuables.鈥
Russian officials have used the existing law against 鈥渄iscrediting鈥 the military that covers offenses such as 鈥渏ustifying terrorism鈥 and spreading 鈥渇ake news鈥 about the armed forces . Multiple activists, bloggers and ordinary Russians have received long prison terms.
The new confiscation law would also apply to those convicted of publicly inciting 鈥渆xtremist activities鈥 and calling for actions harmful to state security or 鈥渄iscrediting鈥 the armed forces. Discrediting the Russian military became a criminal offense under a law adopted as part of a sweeping government crackdown on dissent after Moscow in February 2022.
Russian state news agency Tass said that if someone is convicted under the new law, only money, assets and property 鈥済ained through criminal means鈥 or used for activities against Russia's national security could be confiscated. Draconian Soviet-era legislation authorized the seizure of housing for a variety of criminal offenses.
