The bill's drafter Viktor Ilyukhin admitted that under the amendments, his own phone may as well be tapped.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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Duma Anxious to Wiretap Every Home in Russia
State Duma deputies are to consider a bill that would give police broader powers in wiretapping homes in Russia, the Novye Izvestia newspaper reports.
The bill sanctions wiretapping homes of people suspected or accused of crimes as well as of those “who may possess information on crimes in question”, says the bill.
The list includes family and business partners of the suspects or convicts as well as their former cellmates, according to Viktor Ilykhin, a drafter of the bill. These people tend to refuse to cooperate with investigators, which makes it hard to get the information by any other way, lawmakers note.
Russian law currently permits only court-sanctioned wiretapping of homes of the people who are preparing, committing or have committed crimes.
Viktor Ilyukhin admitted that the amendments draw a fine line between those who can be or cannot be wiretapped, and his own phone may as well be tapped under certain circumstances.
Human rights activists have lashed out at the plan which they think will enable intelligence services to wiretap any home in Russia.
www.kommersant.com
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