State Duma lawmakers removed a clause in anti-terror legislation that could strip individuals of their Russian citizenship, the TASS news agency reported Thursday.
The State Duma Committee of Security and Anti-Corruption decided to exclude rules that could deprive dual citizens working for foreign intelligence or those guilty of terror offenses of their Russian citizenship.
The temporary travel ban for Russians convicted of terrorism and extremism was also removed from the package of bills, TASS reported.
Duma deputies agreed that stripping an individual of their Russian citizenship would not be possible if the individual held no other nationality. The Russian Constitution states that a citizen cannot be deprived of citizenship. In addition, the clause saying that Russian citizens guilty of terror offenses would “voluntarily” forgo their citizenship has now been removed from the bill, TASS reported.
The new anti-terror legislation has been co-authored by United Russia lawmaker Irina Yarovaya and Federation Council member Viktor Ozerov, and developed with the help of the Russian Security Council. It will be voted on at a final reading in the State Duma on Friday.
New anti-terror legislation has been prepared following last year's downing of an Airbus A321 over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the terrorist atrocities in Paris.
