Russian President Putin has approved a new law that will further increase pressure on opponents of the war against Ukraine. It envisages depriving critics of their property – and is apparently aimed primarily at Russians living abroad.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law confiscating the property of war opponents and so-called enemies of the state. The relevant decree was published in the Russian law database. The Duma approved it unanimously a few weeks ago.
With the law, which has already been widely discussed, the Russian government says it wants to punish more harshly any alleged discrediting of the army.
Risk of loss of property
People should lose their property if they acquired it by spreading alleged false information about the Russian army or calls to endanger Russia’s national security. How the law will be implemented is not known.
According to observers, it is particularly aimed at Russians who have left the country permanently. The Russian law enforcement authorities have not yet had direct access to the critics sitting abroad. With the new law, the Russian judiciary is now taking a further step towards prosecuting these citizens anyway.
Russia wants to intimidate the opposition with harsh punishments
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed any criticism: “We believe that expressing any concerns a priori is unfounded,” he said. He also denied that it was a new edition of the Soviet law on “confiscation of the property of enemies of the people.” Particularly under dictator Stalin, hundreds of thousands of Russians were declared enemies of the people, dispossessed and locked in camps or killed.
Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly tightened its laws to prevent criticism. Among other things, the alleged spread of false reports about the Russian army is punished with long prison sentences.