You’ve already heard it: the Russian authorities have adopted yet another repressive law. This time, State Duma deputies drafted amendments to 48 (!) separate federal laws. The essence of this legislative wave was to equate the “financing of extremist activities” with “financing of terrorism”. Basically, this means tougher penalties for so-called “extremist” acts.

Perhaps the most alarming change (in terms of escalating political repression) is the amendment to Russia’s law against laundering of “criminally obtained income and financing of terrorism.” By equating sanctions related to the financing of “terrorism” and “extremism”, the law significantly broadens the scope of Russians at risk of being added to the list of “terrorists and extremists” of the Federal Financial Surveillance Service, which submits people designated for sanctions which legal experts have described as a form of “civil death.”

The amendments provide the following definition:

Yes, but the Prosecutor General’s Office, not the State Duma, determined the final list.

Previously, Russia’s anti-money laundering law included a much narrower list of “extremist” crimes. Committing – or even being suspected of committing – such offenses could land a person on the list of the Federal Financial Supervisory Service.

For example, the old list did not include many crimes clearly considered serious from the state’s perspective, such as violating Russia’s territorial integrity and even genocide.

Now authorities can add people to their list of “terrorists and extremists” for any “extremist” offense. It’s worth noting that lawmakers have been delicate about how they made this change.

The amendments are explicit on certain “crimes linked to extremism”, such as genocide and violations of Russia’s territorial integrity, as well as the propagation of Nazi symbols (which the law previously omitted). Lawmakers even incorporated the most recent updates into the list maintained by the attorney general, who this summer began designating prominent political publications for “extremist” spreading “discrediting” “fake news” on the Russian army and state authorities.

Amendments to Russian money laundering laws also identify “extremist” and “terrorist” crimes related to murder, battery, torture, death threats, desecration of bodies and burial sites and incitement to threaten national security.

Believe it or not, yes.

You bet.

The crimes explicitly listed do not constitute the Attorney General’s full arsenal of “extremist” offenses. Even offenses that are not directly identified can provide grounds for depriving suspects or convicts of their rights. The only difference is that “implied” money laundering offenses under the law must involve an aggravating circumstance. In other words, prosecutors must establish that the offender acted out of motives of “political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or hatred or enmity toward a social group.”

These aggravating circumstances may even be absent from the wording of a specific law of the Criminal Code, but prosecutors can still classify cases as extremist at their discretion. The Attorney General’s Office maintains a shortlist of these laws. The list includes offenses such as assault, insulting religious feelings, hazing in the military, and rehabilitation of Nazism (a vague and repressive law that can be used against anyone who denigrates celebrations of Soviet military victories).

When he wants.

For example, the agency could add an offense such as insulting government officials or defamation, “committed because of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or hatred or enmity towards a social group”.

The main restrictions are financial. Bank accounts registered with those designated as “terrorists and extremists” (and, in practice, even with their relatives) are blocked, and monthly withdrawals are strictly capped at 10,000 rubles ($95) for personal needs. This limit also applies to each dependent in the individual’s family.

People targeted by these laws also face many other obstacles. For example, it is not surprising that employers are often reluctant to hire people classified by the government as “terrorists and extremists.”