MOSCOW, June 5 (RAPSI) – State Duma lawmaker Ilya Kostunov has proposed introducing a penalty for doctors and teachers for soliciting bribes, Izvestia newspaper reported on Friday.

Under the bill, a new article on illegal gratuity would be added to the criminal code.

Currently, doctors who promise to do their duty more comprehensively for a financial “compliment” cannot be punished under the articles on extortion or corruption, the newspaper writes.

Kostunov said the new article would deal with cases of solicited gratuity but that it would not concern patients’ or students’ sincere desire to express material gratitude to doctors or teachers.  

Under the bill, soliciting illegal gratuities would be punishable by a fine of up to 50 times the size of a given gratuity and a ban on holding certain official positions for up to three years, or community service, or up to four years in prison. Soliciting large illegal gratuities would be punishable with а fine of up to 70 times the size of the bribe and a ban on holding certain official positions for up to three years, or up to five years’ imprisonment, Izvestia writes. 

According to the newspaper, the bill has been forwarded to the Supreme Court and the government for official comments, after which the bill will be sent to the State Duma.