By Irina Aleksandrova
Russia's parliament passed a law on Wednesday that will strip the property rights, bank accounts and consular services of Russians living abroad who face prosecution at home on political grounds, in measures lawyers say amount to the de facto revocation of citizenship.
The State Duma approved the bill in its second and third readings simultaneously. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin made no effort to obscure who the law was aimed at.
"We are talking about those who harm our country," he said before the vote. "About extremists, traitors to our homeland. Those who for years have tried to do everything to destroy our state. Who justify Nazism and insult our soldiers and officers, while hiding from punishment in other states."
Under the legislation, Russians living abroad who are evading criminal prosecution at home will face a sweeping set of restrictions inside Russia: bank accounts will be frozen, property and vehicles cannot be sold, licences and accreditations will be suspended, banking app access will be blocked, and state and consular services — including the right to obtain an international passport or have documents such as wills and powers of attorney certified — will be refused.
