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The Russian parliament is getting a new council to advise the country’s top officials on morality, patriotism and “cultural extremism,” reports The Moscow Times. Putin’s Russia has long use ‘cultural extremism’ as a reason to crack down on societal elements the government does not like. Its close relationship with the church has furthered that effort.
The State Duma Council for Culture, Religion and Interethnic Relations will report to Parliamentary Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. The committee will advise parliament on “moral climate,” “preventing cultural extremism” and promoting “patriotic education.”
One of Volodin’s voluntary advisers, church representative Alexander Shchipkov, confirmed the creation of the new board, again reports The Moscow Times.
Recently a man was sentenced to several years in jail for ‘catching a Pokemon’ in side a Russian Orthodox church. Two of the members of the rock band, Pussy Riot, also spent time in a Siberian penal colony before being pardoned before the Sochi Olympics.
