The scoundrels “left” Russia and some “poured dirt” on the country with impunity, the damage from them can be compensated by the confiscation of their property, the speaker of the Duma suggested. The discussion arose after an interview with the actor Smolyaninov.
Some Russian citizens have recently considered it possible to insult the country, Russians, military personnel and “openly support villains, Nazis and murderers”, the existing tools for responding to such actions are not enough, State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in a telegram channel.
He believes that the “scoundrels” who moved abroad continue to “publicly pour dirt on Russia,” while they still have real estate in the country that is rented out, and their fees consist of funds from Russian citizens. According to the speaker, this expresses their sense of impunity, since they are sure that the Russian departments will not get them, but their statements can be regarded as calls for extremism, the rehabilitation of Nazism or discrediting the armed forces.
“In this situation, it would be right to supplement the relevant articles of the Criminal Code with a clause on the confiscation of property from scoundrels in the Russian Federation, which they have enough to compensate for the damage,” Volodin wrote.
In early January, outrage among the Russian authorities was caused by the interview of actor Artur Smolyaninov to Novaya Gazeta Europe (blocked by Roskomnadzor). He said that he felt only hatred “for people on the other side of the front” and would have fought on the side of Ukraine if he had participated in hostilities. According to the actor, he would protect some of his “brothers” from others.
The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bystrykin, then instructed to open a criminal case against Smolyaninov, the Kremlin indicated that “they don’t think anything good about his words” and emphasized that the assessment of “our relevant departments” is more important. Criticism was voiced in the State Duma, including deputy Yevgeny Popov, who proposed to cancel Russian passports by “conditional Smolyaninov”. In response, the Federation Council advised not to violate the rights of citizens.
“A citizen of Russia with an annulled passport remains a citizen of the country and has all the rights. There is no need to play with words and compete with Ukraine in ways of violating the rights of its own citizens, ”wrote Andriy Klishas, head of the Committee on State Building and Constitutional Legislation.
