11 June 2013 

Source: HRO.org (info)

• Moscow city & Moscow region Human rights education Freedom of speech Freedom of conscience Artistic freedom

A bill has been introduced into the State Duma to increase the time limits for the administrative prosecution of individuals in the sphere of freedom of conscience. 

As Sova Centre reports, on 10 June 2013 State Duma deputies from the LDPR fraction, Yaroslav Nilov and Ruslan Kaliuzhnyi, introduced the bill to amend the Administrative Code. 

The authors of the bill propose increasing the time limits for administrative liability for those who violate the law on freedom of conscience and religious associations.

According to current law, administrative charges must be brought within two months, and where a judge hears the case, within three months from the time the violation took place.

Under the bill, the time limits for bringing charges in such cases would be increased to one year.

Moreover, the document proposes empowering the police with the drawing up of official protocols concerning violations of freedom of conscience. Until now such protocols have only been drawn up by officials from the Ministry of Justice.