MOSCOW, February 12 (RAPSI) – Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said during Government Hour at the State Duma that the media must not mention the alleged criminals’ ethnicity.

The Russian authorities have long been discussing such a ban, but have not formalized it yet. In December 2012, Moscow City Duma Speaker Vladimir Platonov asked President Vladimir Putin to support a legislative initiative to prohibit the mentioning of the criminals and suspects’ ethnicity and religious beliefs. Platonov said that the media outlets that violate this ban should be closed down.

Putin supported the initiative, saying that criminals have no ethnicity: “The ethnicity of those who break the law doesn’t matter.”

He also pointed to the need to respect the main principle of the law: unavoidable but fair punishment for crimes irrespective of the alleged criminals’ ethnicity. The media previously reported that it was Shamsail Saraliyev (United Russia) who had proposed banning the media from stating criminals’ ethnicity.

According to Chair of the State Duma Committee for Nationality Affairs Gadzhimet Safaraliyev, that idea had not yet been developed into a bill or discussed at the State Duma.