(Moscow) Russian LGBT rights groups are concerned they could be arrested under a proposed treason law likely to gain easy passage in Parliament.

The new law drafted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Cabinet would allow authorities to label any government critic a traitor – a move that leading human rights activists condemned Wednesday as a chilling reminder of the times under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The draft extends the definition of treason from breaching Russia’s external security to damaging the nation’s constitutional order, sovereignty or territorial integrity. That would essentially let authorities interpret any act against the interests of the state as treason – a crime prosecutable by up to 20 years in prison.

Prominent rights activists said passage of the bill would catapult Russia’s justice system back to the times of Stalin’s purges.

“It returns the Russian justice to the times of 1920-1950s,” the activists said in a statement, urging lawmakers to oppose what they described as the “legislation in the spirit of Stalin and Hitler.”

The activists included the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, and the head of Civic Assistance, Svetlana Gannushkina.

Despite the criticism, the draft is likely to receive a quick approval by parliament, which is dominated by Kremlin loyalists.

LGBT groups fear the law could be used against them if they attempt to hold gay rights marches or pride parades.

Gays have been battling Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov for years over his steadfast refusal to grant parade permits.

“We have banned and will continue to forbid this propaganda by sexual minorities, as they could turn out to be one of the factors in the spread of HIV infections,” Luzhkov told an AIDS conference earlier this month in Moscow.

“Certain homegrown democrats believe that sexual minorities can be a primary indicator and symbol of democracy, but we will forbid the dissemination of these opinions in the future as well,” he said.

Despite Luzhkov’s refusal to grant a gay parade permit earlier this year, the third Moscow Pride took place on Sunday June 1. Gay activists picketed the monument to the Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky and then hung a huge banner from an apartment in front of Moscow City Hall.

The banner read: “Rights to gays and lesbians! Homophobia of Moscow Mayor should be prosecuted.”

Under the proposed new treason law, such protests could result in mass arrests and imprisonment.

Last year, the mayor refused a parade license, citing security concerns. Gays, many of them from the Europen Union, marched anyway. About 20 people were arrested at the May 27 parade, including Alexeyev, two European parliamentarians and British gay advocate Peter Tatchell.

Charges against the foreigners were later dropped and Alexeyev was fined $1000 rubles – about $40.

Lawsuits against the city failed and pride organizers have taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights.

Last year, in another case against the mayor a Moscow court tossed out a lawsuit accusing Lushkov of libel over claims he made that gay rights marches were “satanic.”

The court ruled that Moscow Pride leaders had failed to prove that the remarks were incendiary or intended to vilify gays in general.

In January, a Moscow judge acquitted 13 gay activists arrested last month for staging a protest outside a polling station during national elections. But last month a Moscow court said the mayor had not exceeded his authority in banning gay demonstrations including pride marches.