MOSCOW. Nov 5 (Interfax) - The term "military secret" may return to the Russian legislation, the Izvestia newspaper said, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday.
"According to Izvestia's sources in the Defense Ministry, the ministry is currently considering the relevant issue. Information related to weapons, equipment and deployment of forces, as well as mobilization plans, - the information, which currently constitutes a state secret, - will fall under the legal term 'secret in the defense sector,'" the newspaper said.
The requirement of the law will apply only to military personnel, it said.
"The persons granted access to secret information will receive certain privileges and the disclosure will be punished to the point of criminal prosecution. Experts point out that the existing law on state secret does not cover all the loopholes for leaks, but warn that the efficiency of the new document would depend on law enforcement," the newspaper said.
"The principled decision to introduce the legal norm on 'secret in the defense sector' has already been adopted," Izvestia said.
"The ministry is now actively studying legal aspects and nuances, which must be taken into consideration while drafting the package of documents. Experts will also have to determine the exact list of information, which is to be recognized as state secret. The work is expected to conclude next year," it said.
One of the Izvestia sources noted that the amendments were necessary because the law on state secret in its current form does not fully take into account military specificities. The Armed Forces deal with much more secret information than civilian agencies and organization and not all of this information is protected by the law, the source said.
The terms "state secret" and "military secret" were divided in the USSR, and two different articles of the Criminal Code determined the responsibility for disclosing them, the newspaper said. Ministerial documents envisaged what military information, which does not constitute state secret, should not be disclosed.
The term "military secret" was renounced in the 1990s. Part of information relating to the Armed Forces was designated state secret and some information stopped constituting secret at all.