Members of the SVO who have committed minor crimes will be exempted from criminal liability

Participants in a special military operation (SVO) who have committed minor crimes will be exempted from criminal liability, and it will be possible to go to the front completely legally directly from prison. This follows from the bill submitted to the State Duma on Tuesday by deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov and Irina Pankina (United Russia), as well as the head of the Federation Council committee on constitutional legislation Andrei Klishas. The experience of PMC Wagner in recruiting prisoners was recognized as successful, and now it will be a state matter, the expert states, recalling that a similar practice was common during the Great Patriotic War.

According to bill “On the Peculiarities of Criminal Liability of Persons Involved in a Special Military Operation”, citizens convicted of crimes of minor and medium gravity can be released from punishment if they are mobilized to participate in the SVO or enter into a contract for military service.

But “forgiveness” will not follow immediately, but after dismissal from the service or in the event of receiving a state award. Until that moment, the criminal case against the participant of the SVO should be suspended at the request of the military unit, and the person already serving the sentence will be released conditionally.

Citizens who managed to serve their sentences or were released on parole, under the same conditions, can apply for the repayment of a criminal record. Control over the behavior of such mobilized and contract soldiers is carried out by the command of military units, is specified in the bill. If the convict who went to the NWO zone commits a crime already during the service, then the punishment for him will be added to the sentence received before the signing of the contract, the document says. We also recall that, in accordance with the presidential decree, already concluded contracts for military service “continue to be valid until the end of the period of partial mobilization”, with the exception of cases of dismissal due to age, health reasons and in connection with the entry into force of a sentence of punishment in form of imprisonment.

As the co-author of the bill, the head of the State Duma Committee on Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov, explained to Kommersant, if the law is passed, it will apply to persons who have entered into a contract for military service during the period of mobilization, martial law or in wartime, in respect of which the sentence has entered into force court, as well as defendants and persons under investigation.

At the same time, there is a cut-off point – the date the law enters into force, the deputy stressed, which means that those who commit a crime after this date will no longer be able to avoid punishment by entering into a contract to participate in hostilities.

According to Mr. Krasheninnikov, the adoption of amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure will not be required, since the new bill contains norms of criminal and procedural law.

The Duma will consider this initiative together with the bill of the chairman of the defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov, and his deputy, Andrei Krasov. “Our text stems from their draft,” Pavel Krasheninnikov noted. Amendments by United Russia party members Kartapolov and Krasov, which the Duma plans to consider in the first reading on June 14, provide a “legal basis” for the proposed innovations. In particular, their project provides for the registration of residents of correctional institutions on military records (now those sentenced to deprivation of liberty are automatically removed from it), as well as the possibility of concluding a contract for military service with convicts or those under investigation (the current law “On military duty and military service “It forbids). The mechanism for releasing members of the SVO from criminal liability “will contribute to the achievement of the goals of punishment, and will also provide additional opportunities for recruiting the armed forces,” the explanatory note to the bill says.

Note that this is not the first attempt to expand the mobilization reserve at the expense of criminals.

MPs last year allowed mobilization of citizens who have an outstanding conviction for serious crimes, with the exception of those convicted of committing crimes against the sexual integrity of a minor, as well as for a terrorist attack, hostage-taking, treason, espionage, etc. Formally, the law still does not prohibit the conscription of convicts for military service, says lawyer Alexander Peredruk, only those convicted under certain articles are subject to restrictions. However, he adds, it was not necessary to deal with such practice. The only exception can be considered a set of convicts in the Wagner PMC, but there, as far as is known, release from punishment was implemented through a pardon mechanism, the expert adds.

The practice of sending prisoners to the front directly goes back to the experience of penal battalions during the Great Patriotic War, recalls political scientist Alexei Makarkin. In his opinion, the current innovation is connected with the experience of private military companies – apparently, it is assessed as successful. Therefore, now it will be a state matter, and it is required to bring an appropriate regulatory framework under it, the expert concludes.

Anastasia Kornya, Ksenia Veretennikova