Putin approves amendments to law on rallies

Russian President Vladimir Putin singed the controversial new law that greatly increases the maximum fines for protest-related offenses, RIA-Novosti reports.
“A society which permits rallies and marches must protect itself from radicalism,” RIA-Novosti quotes Putin.
The law was proposed by deputies from the ruling United Russia party in the wake of clashes between police and demonstrators at a downtown Moscow rally on the eve of Putin’s May 7 inauguration as president for a third term. It was then fast-tracked through parliament ahead of another planned June 12 anti-Putin rally in Moscow.
The amendments considerably increase the amount of fines up to about 10,000 dollars.