Federation Council to ask Constitutional Court if senators can be directly elected

MOSCOW, December 27 - RAPSI. The Federation Council is contemplating inquiring at the Constitutional Court to clarify if the Constitution allows direct elections of senators.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during his call-in that he considers it possible for Federation Council members to be directly elected from the candidates nominated by the parties holding parliamentary seats.

"We have already held the first meeting of a working group for developing a proposal to make the Federation Council elective and we want the Constitutional Court to clarify the Constitutional provision which states that the State Duma shall be elected and the Federation Council shall be formed from representatives of each regions legislative and executive authorities", Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko told journalists on Tuesday.

Their elucidation will help clarify how the elections should be held and whether they infringe on the rights of regional legislative and executive authorities, she said.

Matviyenko believes that one possible option is for a candidate for the governors position to run together with a candidate for the Federation Council. So far there are no options ready, but the council "will definitely find a solution", she added.

Washington says open to Russian report on human rights in U.S.

Washington considers reports from other countries on the situation with human rights in the United States as useful and is always open for them, a U.S. Department of State spokesman said commenting on a report from Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry published on Wednesday a report on the situation with human rights in foreign countries, including in the United States. The report in particular expresses concern over the Guantanamo prison, the freedom of speech and touches upon some mistakes made by the U.S. justice system.

“These kinds of human rights reports can be a useful mechanism. But we certainly don’t regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign governments, individuals, or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human rights practices,” Mark Toner, the acting spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told a daily press briefing.

The diplomat did not make any specific comments on provisions pointed out by Russia in its report, although he was particularly asked about the Guantanamo prison. He said the document is being assessed and that would take some time.

“I think we can say that we will or we may examine the report to see if there’s any importance to it… We don’t put any restrictions on access to our human rights records, and, indeed, we have an extremely unfettered press and media that hold us to that,” Toner added.

U.S. President Barack Obama suspended new military commissions for Guantanamo detainees in early 2009 and pledged to close the prison within a year. In March this year, however, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates revoked the suspension.

There are still over 170 detainees, including a Russian citizen, at Guantanamo.

Compulsory medical treatment for drug addicts unpopular worldwide, expert says

MOSCOW, December 28 - RAPSI. Drug addict compulsory treatment is not applied in the developed countries, Yevgeny Krupitsky, head of narcology department at the St. Petersburg Psychoneurological Research Institute said during a video-conference link between Moscow and St. Petersburg arranged by RIA Novosti.

The Health Ministry proposes to pass a law on compulsory medical treatment for drug addicts, regardless of whether they have previous criminal record or not. Chief narcologist of Russia Yevgeny Bryun, who supports the idea, said the law could save many drug addicts who are unable to control themselves in an addictive state.

Federal Drug Control Service head Viktor Ivanov earlier said the parliament may adopt a law on criminal responsibility for drug taking in public places by spring 2012.

There are no successful examples of addict compulsory treatment up to date, Krupitsky said.

Krupitsky said drug addicts should undergo drug tests every week so that the special monitoring group can monitor their health state and remission progress.

Ivanov shared Krupitsky's idea, saying that only 2 percent out of a million of addicts who asked for medical treatment can truly recover from drug addiction. He also alleged that the existing addict treatment model is ineffective.

Penalties for drug-related crimes in Russia

For more info visit: http://www.rapsinews.com/legislation_mm/20111212/258831678.html

The new Anti-Tobacco Law in Russia

A bill restricting the sale of tobacco products will help Russia combat the deadly habit, which is responsible for causing 400,000 deaths per year - Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko

For more info visit: http://www.rapsinews.com/legislation_mm/20110826/254941914.html

Court drops extremism charges against "Bhagavad Gita as It is"

16:04 28/12/2011

TOMSK, December 28 - RAPSI, Sergei Levanenkov. A Tomsk district court has held against a local prosecutor's office in its petition to declare the Russian version of "the Bhagavad Gita as It is" Hindu poem with commentary an extremist text, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.

In June the Tomsk prosecutor's office appealed to the court to place the Bhagavad Gita's Russian-language version on the federal extremist materials list. The prosecutor's office initiated the case following an inspection of the Tomsk Society for Krishna Consciousness. The court was expected to pass its judgment on December 19, but the case was postponed until December 28.

The Tomsk prosecutors offices petition to declare "Bhagavad Gita as It is" an extremist text has sparked an explosion of public indignation in India and has been called a violation of Hindu rights. Several law makers have called on the Russian government to stand up for the rights of followers of Hinduism in Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich commented on the Tomsk prosecutor's office's claim on Thursday. He said the prosecutor's office is challenging not the Bhagavad Gita itself, but the comments made by the book's author Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Bhagavad Gita is a Hindu scripture that is a part of the ancient Mahabharata epic.

"Bhagavad Gita as It is" is a translation of the Bhagavad Gita Hindu scripture with commentary, made by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in the 1960s. The book was translated into more than 60 languages.

Russian notaries to become part of e-government in 2012

MOSCOW, December 20 - RAPSI. Notaries will enjoy the single Interdepartmental Electronic Interaction System from 2012. However, people will be able to contact a notary using their computer only after legislation is adopted on notarial practice and on electronic documents, the Justice Ministry and the Federal Notarial Chamber told RIA Novosti at a Tuesday press conference.

The system is a primary component of e-government. Notaries with an electronic signature and the relevant powers will receive access to government databases.

Presently, 94 percent of the 7,560 notaries in Russia use the Single Information System, which contains 18 million entries on standard forms that may be used to verify the authenticity of a notarial document and a notarial act, 12 million searches of will notices, 4.8 million entries on probate cases, 544,000 entries on arrests and restrictions and 151,000 entries on revoked powers of attorney.

The current system enables to retrieve information on the peoples wills kept in the archives since 1980.

Chargesheet running into 1.5 lakh pages filed in Indore court

Indore: A voluminous chargesheet running into 1.50 lakh pages was today submitted in a special court by EOW against 24 persons, allegedly involved in a nine year old tax scam, pegged at Rs 8 crore, reported in a local agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC).

The massive chargesheet had to be carried on in three vehicles and was produced in the special court of Gauri Shankar Dubey.

Special Public Prosecutor for Economic Offences Wing Ashlesh Sharma said the accused against whom the chargesheet was filed included a retired government servant and they have been charged with offences like corruption, fraud and forgery.

The EOW SP Manoj Kumar Singh said the tax scam took place in local Krishi Upaj Mandi in 2002 and a case in this connection was filed in 2004.

Three machines were pressed into service for twenty-five days to make photocopies of the humongous document, he added.