The head of Crimea proposed depriving citizenship of those who do not stand up for the national anthem

Russians who do not stand during the performance of the Russian anthem should be deprived of citizenship, said the head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov.

“I consider it necessary to raise the issue of deprivation of citizenship in the case of documented failure to appear for the Russian anthem. Why do you need citizenship, if you don’t get up, you don’t respect the symbols of the state – the flag, the anthem. Let’s get rid of citizenship in court, ”Aksenov said on the air of the Crimea 24 TV channel (quote from RIA Novosti).

He appealed to be proud, respect Russia and feel “part of the great Russian nation”. Aksenov also said that there are many “fifth columns” in the country. “It is unclear who they work for and what they do,” he said and advocated the revival of SMERSH (“Death to spies!” – counterintelligence department of the NKVD of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War).

In particular, Aksyonov proposed that refusing to stand up during the performance of the national anthem should be considered a sign that a person is in the “fifth column”. “Such figures must be identified and the materials handed over to the FSB. You cannot respect the authorities, disagree with something, but showing disrespect to your country is direct hostility, ”said Aksenov.

Article 6 of the Russian constitution excludes the possibility of depriving a Russian of citizenship or the right to change it. However, in accordance with Art. 22 of the Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”, citizenship acquired in Russia may be lost in many cases. In particular, for knowingly providing false data, refusing to take an oath, participating in terrorist activities and justifying or promoting terrorism, as well as for participating in illegal armed groups and extremist communities.

Aksyonov, who was appointed head of Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014, obtained citizenship of the Russian Federation.

In February, in the Kaluga region, the deputy of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Alexander Lependin, did not appear at the ceremony during the anthem. According to him, he didn’t do it because his knees hurt. The police organized an investigation into the incident.

“He will definitely be held accountable, all this is registered with the police, now the materials are being prepared for submission to the court, we will not let it go with the brakes,” said the head of the administration of the Maloyaroslavl region, Vyacheslav Parfyonov. As a result, Lependin was handed a summons to the military registration and conscription office “for verification of data” during a meeting of the ethics committee that considered his conduct.