Russia attempts to crush protest rallies with harsh new law

The bill would jack up fines from 2,000 rubles to 300,000 rubles (£5,900), and follows protests that have reflected growing frustration with Putin’s 12-year rule.

The potential punishment is more severe than for illegaly storing nuclear materials.

Opposition factions in the lower house, the State Duma, put forward several hundred amendments in an attempt to block the bill, reflecting a new willingness to stand up to the Kremlin. But members of the Kremlin’s majority United Russia party voted the amendments down one by one during a marathon session.

United Russia then used its majority in the 450-seat parliament to approve the bill in the second and third readings. The final vote was 241-147.

The Kremlin wants the new bill to become law by next Tuesday when the opposition plans a major protest in Moscow. The bill will also require approval by the upper house and Mr Putin’s signature, but both steps are formalities.

Since returning to the presidency in May, Mr Putin has toughened his line towards the opposition, whose protests over the winter drew up to 100,000 people in an unprecedented challenge.

Due to term limits, Mr Putin spent four years in the prime minister’s seat after already serving two consecutive terms as president from 2000 to 2008.

He said of the bill: “We must shield our people from radical actions.”

Russian authorities routinely deny permission for opposition rallies or offer rally organisers venues away from the city centre.

Sergei Mironov, the leader of the Fair Russia opposition faction, said the bill was a “spit in the face of the Russian people”.

“This odious bill is an attempt to scare the people and shut their mouth,” he said before leading his faction out of the session hall before the final vote.

He and other opposition leaders warned that the law would exacerbate tensions and leave the public with no free outlet for discontent.

“In the past, tightening the screws in Russia has only caused bloodshed. This is a sure path to a civil war,” Gennady Gudkov of Fair Russia told the house.

Several dozen opposition activists, including the leader of the liberal Yabloko party, were detained Tuesday morning outside the State Duma for holding an unsanctioned gathering.