Putin legalizes amnesty of all defendants who went to war
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law exempting defendants serving in the military from criminal liability. Earlier, it was reported that Russia may send defendants to the war in Ukraine, according to RIA Novosti.
As the news agency writes, the law supplements provisions of the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of the Russian Federation. In particular, it mandates the exemption from criminal liability during judicial proceedings for defendants serving in the military during the mobilization period or signing a contract for military service.
In addition, the law provides for applying a similar legal mechanism to those convicted, whose sentence has been handed down but has not yet come into legal force, including during the appellate stage of a criminal case.
What preceded this
Earlier, media reports circulated that the Russian authorities might send about 20,000 defendants, who are currently in pre-trial detention centers, to the war in Ukraine.
However, the decision to send defendants to the special military operation indicates that the flow of prisoners is depleting and is no longer as strong as before.
Russia uses prisoners for the war against Ukraine
Russia has been recruiting prisoners since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After Prigozhin's death, the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya) took over, recruiting former Wagner fighters.
The Russian Ministry of Defense is also involving women from prisons as assault troops and snipers. Recently, the State Duma allowed those convicted of rape to sign contracts to participate in the war against Ukraine.
