Putin has signed a law introducing fines for disclosing state secrets in the media.

Vladimir Putin has signed a law introducing fines for disclosing state secrets in the media. The document amending the Code of Administrative Offences was published today on the legal acts publication website.

The amendments will be added to the article on abuse of freedom of mass information (Article 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offences). From now on, if the actions of citizens and officials who disclose state secrets or other legally protected secrets in the media do not contain elements of a criminal offence, they will face fines.

The fine will range from 20,000 to 30,000 roubles (US$225–335) for individuals, and from 50,000 to 100,000 roubles (US$560–1,100) for officials.

The bill was submitted to the State Duma at the end of April this year. Initially, it proposed clarifying the cases in which military personnel could be held administratively liable. Amendments relating to fines for disclosing state secrets were added only for the second reading in the State Duma.