There will be a war in the Duma over the next amnesty project for the anniversary of the Victory

Human rights activists fear: instead of a broad amnesty, “only pregnant women and veterans” will be released again

"Fair Russia" plans to submit to the State Duma a draft amnesty in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Human rights activists agree, but not sure what will happen

The draft amnesty will be ready in the next two weeks, party deputy chairman Mikhail Yemelyanov promises. The party proposes to release everyone except those who take bribes and those convicted of violent crimes.

The fate of the project is decided by the State Duma. At least formally: although the release of prisoners and those under investigation is the power of the lower house of parliament, in recent years, the initiator of the amnesties carried out was exclusively the president. Projects of amnesties from different factions have already been submitted to the Duma of the current convocation. Thus, United Russia offered to amnesty prisoners in honor of the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the Liberal Democratic Party wanted to dedicate an amnesty to the assumption of the office of President Vladimir Putin - there were other initiatives related to the Great Patriotic War and the 20th anniversary of the Constitution. However, even in cases where the proposals of the deputies were similar to the presidential ones, they were rejected by the State Duma itself.

Fair Russians rely on Putin's assistance.

“If the president supports us or introduces his own project, we will support the president,” Mikhail Yemelyanov explained to Novaya Gazeta.

He also noted that the latest economic amnesty announced last fall was a failure:

- Only a few hundred convicted of trumped-up crimes came out, and the rest are still serving their sentences.

Human rights activists are ready to support the Just Russia project.

“Any amnesty, no matter who it comes from, will always find support in the person of the Council, because amnesty is an act of philanthropy, an act of humanity, an act of forgiveness in relation to persons who have broken the law,” Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Human Rights Council, shared with Novaya Gazeta. . “It is impossible not to take into account the fact that we have a lot of people who go to jail on dubious charges. If we can release at least one innocent prisoner with the help of an amnesty, it will be a big deal.

Fedotov believes that the current method of declaring an amnesty is imperfect. “We need a federal law on amnesty, a single normative act that defines the principles by which an amnesty is declared. If a general legal amnesty regime were introduced, then the issues would be resolved much more simply, taking into account the general rules. Also in Russia, the concept of an administrative amnesty in relation to persons brought to administrative responsibility is not in demand - for example, deprivation of a driver's license. Some countries have a tradition: after each presidential election, the newly elected president announces an administrative amnesty. We should also introduce such a tradition.

Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva doubts the possibility of a broad amnesty.

“In our country, as always, this will affect only pregnant women and war veterans,” the human rights activist complained.

Valery Borshchev, chairman of the Permanent Chamber for Human Rights of the Political Advisory Council under the President, also warned that the project of the Just Russia faction might run into difficulties. According to him, there were many plans to carry out a broad amnesty, but everything was blocked at the highest level.

“I believe that an amnesty is necessary,” Borshchev added. “This is not only an act of mercy, it is also a fight against crime. Those convicted of fraud and theft should be released as much as possible. It is impossible to keep a person in prison for more than three years on insignificant counts, because they gain experience in the colony. The colony is a factory of criminals. The recurrence rate is 30-40%. And among them most of all those who had one landing.