Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that significantly expands police powers over Russians’ bank accounts.

This is reported by The Moscow Times.

According to the document, employees of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will be able to block any banking transactions of individuals for up to 10 days without a court order .

For this, investigators and investigators will only need to suspect that the funds were “used in criminal activity . “

Blocking will occur “in cases that cannot be delayed” with the consent of the head of the investigative body and the prosecutor.

“The decision to suspend operations is intended for the purpose of further arrest,” the document says. 

Employees of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs must apply to the court with a corresponding request within 10 days – the maximum period for a possible blocking.

At the same time, the law obliges banks and money transfer operators to provide law enforcement officers with information about citizens’ accounts and funds within three days upon request, and in cases where the request is possible in electronic form, within 24 hours .

Currently, Russian law provides for extrajudicial arrest only for crimes punishable by confiscation of property. This “does not contribute to the adoption of effective measures to compensate for damages for other crimes, which does not ensure the protection of citizens from criminal encroachments and the restoration of violated rights,” the explanatory note to the law states. 

The introduction of the amendments “will not cause an unjustified restriction of the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens, since it provides for the investigator to be notified of the prosecutor’s decisions,” the explanatory note also states.

Officially, the bill aims to increase the effectiveness of the fight against IT crimes, but the document does not specify a clear list of crimes that may lead to account blocking if suspected . The bill also lacks technical details: for example, it does not clarify whether the amount in the account should be related to the losses indicated in the alleged crime.

According to lawyers, the new powers may lead to an expansion of the practice of arbitrary seizure of property. 

Recall that earlier, Russians complained about frequent and prolonged blocking of bank cards due to the law aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

It has previously been reported that the Russian authorities are discussing the creation of a unified system for accounting for bank cards held by Russians to implement the previously announced plan to limit the number of cards that banks can issue to one person.

Author:  Halyna Yalivets Джерело: https://censor.net/n3566331

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