The Duma classified data on the property of security forces, citing the Maidan threat

The State Duma has limited access to data on the property of security officials and members of their families. One of the pretexts was recent attempts to “de-anonymize” and threaten the children of law enforcement officers who participated in the dispersal of unauthorized rallies of liberals in Moscow.

Corresponding amendments were adopted to the law “On State Protection of Judges, Law Enforcement Officers and Supervisory Agencies,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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According to United Russia deputy Dmitry Vyatkin, who presented the bill, databases about the property of security forces and their place of residence often become public, which is why law enforcement officers receive threats.

“Instances have become more frequent when, when law enforcement officers perform their official duties, calls and threats are made against them personally, against their families, up to and including direct threats to life and health.

In this regard, the bill proposes to strengthen state protection measures for these categories of our fellow citizens in terms of establishing the possibility of limiting access to this information, which is contained in a number of information systems.

This may be information contained in the systems of the Pension Fund, Rosreestr, the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, tax information, and the Federal Bailiff Service,” Vyatkin listed.

This idea was opposed by representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who recalled the recent revelations of “werewolves in uniform”, in whose apartments and garages huge amounts of corrupt cash were discovered.

“There is no doubt that people involved in the security of the country and citizens, they must be classified in some way. But this is only if they themselves are under some kind of threat. What does property have to do with it? Will it not happen that we will then once again be surprised that somewhere, in some garage, we will again find stored money in billions of rubles. Secondly, you say that there will be no corruption component here, but how can criminal cases be initiated, how will they arise, if all information about property is hidden?” – asked Communist Party member Vera Ganzya.

“Through property information, the place of residence of the employee and his family members is calculated. Is it possible to exert influence and pressure on the protected person? Obviously... The danger is not illusory, it is quite real,” Vyatkin explained.

“Let me remind you that we have not yet made a court decision regarding Colonel Zakharchenko. As for Colonel Cherkalin, who defended the interests and protected the Central Bank, there are also no decisions or information yet. The whole department of General Sugrobov too. Don't you think that with this law you are silencing the remnants of brave journalists who expose high-ranking corrupt officials? And now you want to organize a caste of untouchables!” – insisted the deputy head of the Communist Party faction Nikolai Kolomeytsev.

Vyatkin responded to this that it is not journalists who should be involved in investigations, but special bodies: “Checks of compliance with anti-corruption legislation are carried out not by journalists, but in accordance with the established legal procedure. The cases that you cited as an example have nothing to do with the system of protection in relation to those categories of civil servants that we are talking about. These are two completely unrelated stories,” the speaker assured.