Russia, Duma votes bill to formalize charges of wrongdoing against ‘foreign agents’ transferred abroad

(Adnkronos) – The Russian State Duma has approved in the third and final reading a bill that allows the opening of cases, against ‘foreign agents’, for alleged minor offenses committed abroad. The authorities will be able to open criminal proceedings in absentia for violations of the rules governing the status of ‘foreign agent’. “40 percent of the people on the ‘foreign agents’ lists are abroad. We have found a way to prosecute them even if they are outside Russia,” said Vasily Piskaryov, Chairman of the Duma Commission on Foreign Interference and author of the measure. The sanctions imposed at the end of the proceedings will be deducted from the special current accounts that ‘foreign agents’ have been forced to open, in the event that they receive royalties or other forms of income.