Vladimir Putin is multiplying his fire against critics of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the Russian president signed a law allowing authorities to seize money and assets of those convicted of “spreading false news about Russia’s armed forces, as well as committing crimes detrimental to national security,” according to with the state news agency TASS.
The penalties apply only to assets obtained through criminal means or “used for activities directed against the national security of Russia,” according to TASS.
“Punishment of Traitors”
The speaker of Russia’s lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the move was aimed at punishing “traitors who smear our country and our troops” and “to strip these scoundrels of their honorary titles, confiscate their property data, money and other valuables’ according to the Associated Press.
Jail sentences are in effect
The new law came to be added to another law passed in March 2022 that imposes prison terms and fines to those spreading “fake news” against the Russian military.
Many people in Russia have already been jailed for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported in July 2022. Some have fled the country, leaving behind assets that the Kremlin has now in his sights.
Russia’s new law comes as the war in Ukraine approaches its third year and a month before Putin seeks a fifth term in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for March.
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