Russian president moves to revoke citizenship of those discrediting military

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a presidential amendment to a bill enabling Moscow revoke the citizenship of those who discredit the Russian military, state media said on Sunday.

The amendments, proposed to a bill originally adopted by the State Duma in April, defines the “public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces” as a crime, with punishment being stripping passports of those who acquired Russian citizenship, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

One of the amendments also considers actions deemed “unfavorable on the territorial integrity of Russia” while working under foreign or international non-governmental organizations as sufficient to revoke one’s citizenship.

Calling for actions aimed at violating Russia’s territorial integrity, discrediting the Russian military, publicly calling for extremism, threatening the life of a government official, and abusing the state emblem and flag are also included in the proposals.

The original version of the bill suggested the deprivation of citizenship for “serious crimes against the state, terrorist activities, drug trafficking and forgery of documents.”