A Russian opposition party on Tuesday deliberately stalled the passing of a controversial bill that would greatly increase fines for protesters by calling for votes on hundreds of amendments. In a highly unusual spectacle in the usually rubber-stamp parliament, A Just Russia party submitted more than 400 amendments to the bill in its crucial second reading and then insisted on reading out each one in detail. "We suggest carrying over the discussion to tomorrow.
We're in no hurry," young lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov said as the clock struck 6:00 pm, adding that the parliament had looked at half his amendments and rejected them all. "We are against this bill in principle and again suggest to United Russia that they stop this discussion in return for us ending the strike," he said. The parliament's lower house is dominated by ruling party United Russia, which has enough votes to shoe-in the bill, although numerous members were absent on Tuesday and their colleagues were pushing buttons for them.
The controversial bill would hike the maximum penalty for organisers of illegal protests to one million rubles ($32,100), while participants could be fined up to 300,000 rubles ($9,000). Human Rights Watch criticised the bill, saying the measures "would severely undercut the right to peaceful assembly."
During the debate, Gennady Gudkov, also of A Just Russia, criticised what he called "inordinate" fines, which he said "not one normal person can pay without destroying the family budget." Gennady Gudkov is Dmitry Gudkov's father and the two sit side-by-side in parliament. The bill was hastily submitted less than a month ago and passed in its first reading on May 22.
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