The State Duma on Friday gave final approval to a presidential bill increasing prison terms for police officers who commit crimes, seemingly ignoring a request from President Dmitry Medvedev to expand the legislation to include all law enforcement officials.
Medvedev asked deputies to expand the legislation after a Constitutional Court expert in April declared the bill discriminatory for singling out the police.
A senior Duma deputy with United Russia, Mikhail Grishankov, told The Moscow Times in April that deputies would satisfy Medvedev's request.
But the wording of the bill passed in a third reading Friday remained unchanged.
Grishankov could not be reached for comment Friday.
Despite Medvedev's request, deputies apparently felt no pressing need to revise the bill because the Constitutional Court expert's finding was a nonbinding recommendation, analysts said.
The bill, posted on the Duma's web site, increases the maximum prison terms for various crimes committed by police officers and also punishes police for not obeying orders from superiors, introduces new reasons to dismiss police officers, and toughens requirements for new recruits.
Police officers who fail to fulfill orders would face up to two years in prison if they acted alone and up to five years if they acted with others.
New reasons for dismissal include the "gross violation of work discipline" and providing false information when hired.
The bill introduces obligatory alcohol and drug tests for candidates applying for certain positions within the police force. The list of positions has yet to be defined by the Interior Ministry.
The bill will oblige police superiors to sign a document offering a personal guarantee about each rookie they hire, the bill said without elaborating.
The bill now must be approved by the Federation Council before it can be sent to Medvedev to be signed into law.
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