Kremlin: pardoning convicts participating in SVO is carried out according to the law

The procedure for pardoning convicts who participate in a special operation as part of the Wagner PMC is carried out strictly in accordance with Russian law. This was stated by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

Earlier, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that some prisoners were pardoned after they had been at the front. Journalists asked how many such decrees were signed by the head of state.

“There are open decrees, and there are decrees with various classifications of secrecy. That is why I cannot say anything about decrees. But I can really confirm that the entire procedure for pardoning prisoners is carried out in strict accordance with Russian law,” Peskov said.

The Kremlin representative also answered a question from journalists about the awarding of Wagner PMC fighter Hayk Gasparyan, who was convicted in 2020 for robbery. Peskov explained that Gasparyan showed heroism during the special operation, for which he received a state award.

At the beginning of January 2023 Prigozhin declaredthat the first group of participants in the special operation from among the former prisoners completed a six-month contract service and received a pardon. Commenting on this information, Peskov stressed that the pardon “is carried out in strict accordance with the law.”

January 24 Prigogine addressed to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin with a request to prohibit the discrediting of volunteers participating in the SVO, including former prisoners. He pointed to a number of media outlets that, according to him, are trying to put the convicts in an unsightly light by publishing “negative information” about them.