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Russian Parliament Passes Revised Religious Bill

2:00 p.m. EDT

The Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, passed a revised version of the "Religious Freedom Act" today, Keston News Service reports. The bill passed by a vote of 357 to 6, and now goes to the upper house of the parliament, which will decide whether to accept or reject the bill.

The bill was backed by President Boris Yeltsin, who vetoed an earlier version of the act in July. His representative to the Duma, Aleksandr Kotenkov, told the Duma that the bill's 15-year provision would not be applied retroactively.