Russian lawmakers submit bill on mechanism to suspend bans on terror groups

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian lawmakers on Tuesday submitted a draft bill to the country’s lower house of parliament on introducing a mechanism to suspend bans on the activities of terror groups.

An explanatory note for the bill, which was posted on the website of the Russian State Duma, said the ban on the activity of such groups may be temporarily lifted in the case of a court decision initiated by the country’s prosecutor general or his deputy.

It further said the lifting of such bans will be possible if there is data that a particular organization has ceased carrying out "activities aimed at promoting, justifying, and supporting terrorism."

The note also said that, in such a case, a copy of the court’s decision will be sent to the Russian Federal Security Service within five days of the decision’s entry into force to amend Moscow’s list of terror groups.

While the note does not mention any specific group, Leonid Slutsky, the leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters in Moscow that the mechanism aims to ensure legal interaction between Russia and the Taliban.

“Today's Afghanistan – whether someone likes it or not – is the Taliban. Therefore, we interact and will now interact on an absolutely legal basis,” Slutsky was further quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency Tass.

Russia included the Taliban in its list of banned terrorist organizations back in 2003.