President Vladimir Putin has sent to the State Duma his proposals to amend two controversial bills currently being debated by Russia's lower house, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 10 July, quoting presidential spokesman Dmitriy Peskov.

file photo
On 6 July, the State Duma approved, on first reading, a bill giving foreign-funded NGOs the status of "foreign agents". On 11 July, it is due to launch a debate on a bill criminalizing libel.

According to RIA Novosti, Putin proposed that "the provisions of the law on non-commercial organizations should not apply to religious organizations, state corporations and state companies, non-commercial organizations established by them, as well as state and municipal establishments". He also said that the term "political activity" should be clarified so as to explicitly exempt from the application of the bill "activities in the fields of science, culture, physical culture, art, healthcare" and several other fields clearly unrelated to politics, RIA Novosti added.

"As for the libel bill, it is being proposed that penalties envisaging custodial sentences and compulsory works be excluded," Peskov said.

"By making these proposals, Putin has taken on board the concerns which have been voiced by human rights defenders and which have been repeatedly heard in the course of the public discussion," he said.

He recalled that Putin's proposals followed the discussion of the bills he held earlier in the day with "human rights defenders", a reference to his meeting with the chairman of the presidential council for the development of civil society and human rights, Mikhail Fedotov, Russia's human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and the presidential commissioner for entrepreneurs' rights, Boris Titov.

The Russian president's website earlier published an official transcript of their meeting in the Kremlin (http://kremlin.ru/news/15913), during which concerns were voiced about various provisions of the two bills.

Putin rejected criticism by Fedotov and Lukin of the proposed criminalization of libel, claiming that similarly tough defamation laws operated in leading Western countries such as the United States, the UK and Germany. He agreed, however, that people found guilty of defamation should not serve custodial sentences.

Putin dismissed calls for references to "foreign agents" to be removed from the NGO bill. Fedotov had argued that this would suggest that foreign-funded NGOs were involved in spying, but Putin replied that references to "tax residents" in the Russian Tax Code evoked similar associations without leading to a debate about whether or not the term should be replaced.

He also rejected Fedotov's argument that the source of funding was irrelevant as long as NGOs operated in a "transparent" manner. "Of course, it is important whether they have received the money from the State Department or some Russian structure because, as the proverb goes, he who pays the piper, calls the tune. That is a fact, you see. No-one would be throwing money away just like that," Putin said.

At the same time, Putin promised to increase government funding for NGOs. "I agree with those of my colleagues who believe that, since we are introducing a more or less rigorous framework for the work of such organizations, we should increase our funding for the operation of non-commercial organizations. I believe that it should be at least three times as much as it is today. I will ask the government for this to be reflected in the budget. It should rise from the current R1bn to R3bn (91m dollars)," Putin said.

He also rejected Lukin's call for the State Duma to postpone the examination of the two bills until the autumn session. Lukin had argued that in their current form the bills were not "legally sound". Putin replied: "I am not sure that by postponing this again and again we will achieve laboratory-grade cleanliness. I realize that these are complex things that we will hardly be able to make perfectly clean. There will always be three or four opinions about each provision".

Keywords: Russia, Government, Politics - Russia, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's - Russian News - Russia

President Vladimir Putin has sent to the State Duma his proposals to amend two controversial bills currently being debated by Russia's lower house, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 10 July, quoting presidential spokesman Dmitriy Peskov.

file photo
On 6 July, the State Duma approved, on first reading, a bill giving foreign-funded NGOs the status of "foreign agents". On 11 July, it is due to launch a debate on a bill criminalizing libel.

According to RIA Novosti, Putin proposed that "the provisions of the law on non-commercial organizations should not apply to religious organizations, state corporations and state companies, non-commercial organizations established by them, as well as state and municipal establishments". He also said that the term "political activity" should be clarified so as to explicitly exempt from the application of the bill "activities in the fields of science, culture, physical culture, art, healthcare" and several other fields clearly unrelated to politics, RIA Novosti added.

"As for the libel bill, it is being proposed that penalties envisaging custodial sentences and compulsory works be excluded," Peskov said.

"By making these proposals, Putin has taken on board the concerns which have been voiced by human rights defenders and which have been repeatedly heard in the course of the public discussion," he said.

He recalled that Putin's proposals followed the discussion of the bills he held earlier in the day with "human rights defenders", a reference to his meeting with the chairman of the presidential council for the development of civil society and human rights, Mikhail Fedotov, Russia's human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and the presidential commissioner for entrepreneurs' rights, Boris Titov.

The Russian president's website earlier published an official transcript of their meeting in the Kremlin (http://kremlin.ru/news/15913), during which concerns were voiced about various provisions of the two bills.

Putin rejected criticism by Fedotov and Lukin of the proposed criminalization of libel, claiming that similarly tough defamation laws operated in leading Western countries such as the United States, the UK and Germany. He agreed, however, that people found guilty of defamation should not serve custodial sentences.

Putin dismissed calls for references to "foreign agents" to be removed from the NGO bill. Fedotov had argued that this would suggest that foreign-funded NGOs were involved in spying, but Putin replied that references to "tax residents" in the Russian Tax Code evoked similar associations without leading to a debate about whether or not the term should be replaced.

He also rejected Fedotov's argument that the source of funding was irrelevant as long as NGOs operated in a "transparent" manner. "Of course, it is important whether they have received the money from the State Department or some Russian structure because, as the proverb goes, he who pays the piper, calls the tune. That is a fact, you see. No-one would be throwing money away just like that," Putin said.

At the same time, Putin promised to increase government funding for NGOs. "I agree with those of my colleagues who believe that, since we are introducing a more or less rigorous framework for the work of such organizations, we should increase our funding for the operation of non-commercial organizations. I believe that it should be at least three times as much as it is today. I will ask the government for this to be reflected in the budget. It should rise from the current R1bn to R3bn (91m dollars)," Putin said.

He also rejected Lukin's call for the State Duma to postpone the examination of the two bills until the autumn session. Lukin had argued that in their current form the bills were not "legally sound". Putin replied: "I am not sure that by postponing this again and again we will achieve laboratory-grade cleanliness. I realize that these are complex things that we will hardly be able to make perfectly clean. There will always be three or four opinions about each provision".