Putin has approved legislation to give life imprisonment to those who commit paedophile crimes, according to the Russian government’s website, which publishes official documents.
Currently, life imprisonment in Russia is given to people who have previously been convicted of crimes against people under the age of 14 if the crime is repeated.
Under the new law, anyone who commits a paedophile offence against any child under the age of 18 will receive a life sentence. However, if violence is used in conceivable with the crime of paedophilia, and if the crime is committed against two or more children, the courts will immediately implement this measure.
The Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, approved the legislation last week.
The architects of the draft law were Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the Duma Legislative Committee, Senator Andrey Turchak and Aleksandr Hinshteyn, chairman of the Duma Information Policy Committee. The document was submitted for approval by the Duma in September last year.
