Berliner Boersenzeitung - Russia backs jail time for 'fake' army news, restricts media

EUR -
AED 3.973743
AFN 72.902233
ALL 98.375571
AMD 417.79432
ANG 1.945844
AOA 986.133506
ARS 1068.267744
AUD 1.653032
AWG 1.947377
AZN 1.839693
BAM 1.955305
BBD 2.179969
BDT 129.017365
BGN 1.95627
BHD 0.407693
BIF 3138.035244
BMD 1.081876
BND 1.431051
BOB 7.460113
BRL 6.233336
BSD 1.079637
BTN 90.755044
BWP 14.492602
BYN 3.533306
BYR 21204.776285
BZD 2.17627
CAD 1.505853
CDF 3148.259798
CHF 0.938418
CLF 0.036956
CLP 1019.721489
CNY 7.717785
CNH 7.702197
COP 4719.155418
CRC 554.25724
CUC 1.081876
CUP 28.669723
CVE 110.237116
CZK 25.353879
DJF 192.263144
DKK 7.460507
DOP 65.024454
DZD 144.297528
EGP 52.717527
ERN 16.228145
ETB 129.016558
FJD 2.467322
FKP 0.827818
GBP 0.832012
GEL 2.953711
GGP 0.827818
GHS 17.544562
GIP 0.827818
GMD 75.193377
GNF 9311.730682
GTQ 8.345889
GYD 225.882863
HKD 8.407061
HNL 27.235363
HRK 7.453079
HTG 142.285324
HUF 405.477492
IDR 17028.300858
ILS 4.035942
IMP 0.827818
INR 90.973088
IQD 1414.355314
IRR 45552.402923
ISK 148.498191
JEP 0.827818
JMD 170.806005
JOD 0.766941
JPY 165.872743
KES 139.561795
KGS 92.836702
KHR 4388.930395
KMF 492.741184
KPW 973.688463
KRW 1496.656931
KWD 0.331692
KYD 0.899781
KZT 529.261016
LAK 23669.01296
LBP 96736.830569
LKR 317.0598
LRD 207.301396
LSL 19.12304
LTL 3.1945
LVL 0.654416
LYD 5.21173
MAD 10.651106
MDL 19.353015
MGA 4990.82984
MKD 61.599419
MMK 3513.892154
MNT 3676.215837
MOP 8.639815
MRU 42.689202
MUR 49.885388
MVR 16.617965
MWK 1872.161049
MXN 21.700092
MYR 4.753221
MZN 69.142553
NAD 19.12304
NGN 1775.975519
NIO 39.730318
NOK 11.859675
NPR 145.209612
NZD 1.814788
OMR 0.416517
PAB 1.079627
PEN 4.06381
PGK 4.323946
PHP 63.080941
PKR 299.874733
PLN 4.338975
PYG 8594.905376
QAR 3.936404
RON 4.975118
RSD 117.105565
RUB 105.443931
RWF 1468.321804
SAR 4.063125
SBD 9.015862
SCR 15.191686
SDG 650.753943
SEK 11.51203
SGD 1.433492
SHP 0.827818
SLE 24.559198
SLL 22686.402474
SOS 617.041069
SRD 37.138645
STD 22392.65596
SVC 9.446698
SYP 2718.247053
SZL 19.12825
THB 36.545776
TJS 11.498292
TMT 3.786567
TND 3.344254
TOP 2.533864
TRY 37.097237
TTD 7.317149
TWD 34.666025
TZS 2942.70341
UAH 44.65603
UGX 3956.999083
USD 1.081876
UYU 44.928635
UZS 13803.508424
VEF 3919153.881248
VES 45.625543
VND 27406.63241
VUV 128.442565
WST 3.030535
XAF 655.788089
XAG 0.032073
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.923825
XDR 0.81151
XOF 655.797179
XPF 119.331742
YER 270.820683
ZAR 19.12303
ZMK 9738.24388
ZMW 28.745994
ZWL 348.36374
  • RBGPF

    62.3500

    62.35

    +100%

  • NGG

    -0.8800

    65.12

    -1.35%

  • RYCEF

    0.0400

    7.25

    +0.55%

  • RELX

    -0.2500

    47.91

    -0.52%

  • CMSC

    -0.1600

    24.57

    -0.65%

  • BTI

    -0.4500

    34.46

    -1.31%

  • RIO

    0.4000

    66.58

    +0.6%

  • GSK

    0.2900

    38.17

    +0.76%

  • AZN

    -0.7900

    75.22

    -1.05%

  • BP

    -1.6900

    29.36

    -5.76%

  • SCS

    -0.3800

    12.21

    -3.11%

  • VOD

    -0.2600

    9.28

    -2.8%

  • CMSD

    -0.0400

    24.84

    -0.16%

  • BCC

    -6.9800

    131.64

    -5.3%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    32.46

    -0.71%

  • JRI

    -0.0900

    12.98

    -0.69%

Russia backs jail time for 'fake' army news, restricts media
Russia backs jail time for 'fake' army news, restricts media

Russia backs jail time for 'fake' army news, restricts media

Russian lawmakers approved legislation Friday to impose fines and harsh jail terms for publishing "fake news" about the army -- the latest move to silence dissent one week after Moscow launched the invasion of Ukraine.

Text size:

The bill sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military.

"If the fakes led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years," Russia's lower house of parliament said.

Amendments were also passed to fine or jail anybody calling for sanctions against Russia.

Opening the parliament's session, chairman Vyacheslav Volodin railed against foreign social media, after Facebook was briefly inaccessible in Russia on Friday.

"All these IT companies beginning with Instagram, and ending with the others, are based in the United States of America. It is clear they are used as weapons. They carry hatred and lies. We need to oppose this," he said.

The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia that has intensified since the invasion.

Russia's media watchdog said Friday it had restricted access to the BBC and other independent media websites, further tightening controls over the internet.

- Foreign media restricted -

Access to the BBC, the independent news website Meduza, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda, were "limited" by Roskomnadzor following a request from prosecutors.

Roskomnadzor said in each case, the request was filed on February 24, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine.

Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Kremlin's human rights council accused Western media of being behind "a huge flow of false information that comes from Ukraine" and said the council had set up a project to stop it.

In another attack on critical voices, Russian police on Friday were carrying out searches at the office of the country's most prominent rights group, Memorial, which was ordered to close late last year, sparking international outcry.

Russia's invasion has already claimed hundreds of lives, displaced more than a million people and spurred allegations of war crimes.

Western-led sanctions levelled against Russia in retaliation have sent the ruble into free-fall forcing the central bank to impose a 30-percent tax on sales of hard currency after a run on lenders.

- State-media narratives -

Moscow has few economic tools with which to respond but the duma on Friday adopted a bill that would freeze any assets inside Russia of foreigners "violating rights of Russians".

Russian media have been instructed to publish only information provided by official sources, which describe the invasion as a military operation.

State-controlled broadcasters have meanwhile reinforced government narratives about nationalism in Ukraine and Moscow's claim that Ukrainian soldiers are using civilians as human shields.

For the moment, it appears the invasion has marked the beginning of the end for what remains of Russia's independent media.

Ekho Mosvky -- a liberal-leaning radio station majority-owned by Russia's energy giant Gazprom -- said Thursday it would shut down after being taken off air over its Ukraine war coverage.

Authorities had on Monday blocked the Ekho website and took the station off air as punishment for spreading "deliberately false information" about the conflict.

Another independent outlet, Znak, said Friday it was ceasing work "due to the large number of restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the media in Russia".

The BBC said this week that the audience of its Russian language news website had "more than tripled...with a record reach of 10.7 million people in the last week".

In a Friday response to the blocking, a BBC spokesperson said the company will "continue our efforts to make BBC News available in Russia, and across the rest of the world" despite the restrictions.

(F.Schuster--BBZ)