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Russian parliament approves tough new anti-terror law
Russia's parliament gave preliminary approval Friday to a law allowing authorities to tap phones and ban rallies across the entire country as part of its latest anti-terror campaign. The move would allow authorities to stop traffic and detain people in "anti-terror zones" for at least 60 days after receiving authority to do so from a secret service commission created under the prime minister. Similar laws are already in place — including spying on Internet communications. However whereas previous legislation dealt primarily with national security issues related to spying from abroad, this new measure focuses specifically on counter-terrorism operations. The law says the anti-terror zones could be put in place in areas near war-torn Chechnya and "across the whole country," according to the RIA Novosti news agency. The law under consideration also makes it possible for journalists to be barred from conflict zones where an anti-terror operation is underway — specifically separatist Chechnya, where independent reporting on the decade old conflict is already complicated by federal restrictions.. The measure was passed in the first of three required readings by a 385 votes to 47, and provoked howls of outrage from human rights activists. Posted by: Fred 2004-12-18 |
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