The State Duma has unified the list of crimes for which they will not be taken to the SVO

The State Duma on Tuesday adopted in the second and third readings a package of two bills regulating the participation of those under investigation and convicted in a special military operation (SVO). By the second reading, the list of crimes for which guilt cannot be “washed away with blood” was unified for suspects and convicted persons. In addition, new compositions appeared in it, although the day before at a meeting of the relevant committee they discussed a possible narrowing of this list.

The first bill from the package adopted on March 19 amends the laws “On mobilization preparation and mobilization in the Russian Federation” and “On military duty and military service”, and also invalidates the “temporary” law approved in 2023 “On the peculiarities of criminal liability of persons recruited to participate in a special military operation.” The second document establishes in the Criminal Code (CC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) a mechanism for releasing from criminal liability persons who have entered into a contract for military service during the military service period. Both bills were submitted to the Duma on March 6 by the chairmen of the State Duma and Federation Council committees on state construction Pavel Krasheninnikov (United Russia) and Andrei Klishas, ​​as well as the head of the Duma defense committee Andrei Kartapolov (United Russia). On March 12, the Duma approved both initiatives in the first reading.

Let us remind you, the bills provide an opportunity to “wash away guilt with blood” for citizens suspected and accused of crimes of minor and medium gravity, with the exception of a number of offenses related to extremism, terrorism, espionage, threat of disclosure of state secrets, illegal handling of nuclear materials, as well as crimes against sexual integrity minors. After concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense, the cases of the suspects will be suspended, and the real sentence of the convicted will be replaced with a suspended sentence. However, complete release from liability will occur only in the event of a state award or dismissal from military service due to age, health, or due to the end of wartime.

Both during the consideration of the bills in the first reading and at the meeting of the relevant committee on state construction on the morning of March 18, there were heated debates over the list of “forbidden” compounds. The Duma opposition proposed expanding it to include rape, and Pavel Krasheninnikov, on the contrary, spoke in favor of “narrowing” and, accordingly, increasing the circle of people who can be attracted to the SVO.

Consultations on the feasibility of certain amendments with the participation of representatives of the presidential administration continued until late Monday evening.

Their result was the unification of the list of crimes for those under investigation and those convicted, the guilt of which cannot be expiated by participation in the SVO (initially they were different). Moreover, instead of “narrowing” the list of “forbidden” compounds, new ones appeared. Among them are banditry, the organization of a criminal community, public calls for extremist activities, the sale of weapons of mass destruction, and mercenarism.

During the consideration of the bills at the plenary session on March 19, the discussion around rape arose again. Mikhail Matveev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), putting his amendment to a separate vote, wondered why only people who have committed crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, and not absolutely all rapists, will not be able to avoid punishment by concluding a military contract. “These people, even in the criminal hierarchy, occupy the lowest link, you can’t even touch them, but we will give them a machine gun, and they, with this psyche, will join the armed forces,” the communist was perplexed. “Not everyone who is convicted under this article falls into the category of untouchables or those who cannot be touched, so we need to be more precise here,” Andrei Kartapolov objected knowledgeably and reminded that “it is impossible to conclude contracts under three articles” of the Criminal Code – 131st (rape), 132nd (violent acts of a sexual nature) and 134th (sexual intercourse and other acts of a sexual nature with a person under 16 years of age). True, another communist, Alexei Kurinny, drew the attention of deputies to the fact that the list of exceptions includes only certain parts of these articles related to crimes against minors.

“Why can’t someone who raped a minor atone for his guilt with blood, but someone who raped and killed his victim can?” – Mr. Kurinny asked.

However, the chamber did not heed these arguments; it rejected the communist amendments and adopted the drafts in the second and third readings. 336 deputies voted for amendments to the laws “On mobilization preparation and mobilization in the Russian Federation” and “On military duty and military service,” one was against, and one abstained. 343 votes were cast in favor of amending the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, and 52 deputies were against.

On the morning of March 19, amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure were preliminary considered at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building. Only the senator from the Lugansk People’s Republic, Olga Bas, had questions about the document. She asked whether the grounds for terminating criminal prosecution would be non-rehabilitative. “Absolutely true,” replied the deputy head of the committee, Vladimir Poletaev, after which the law was preliminary unanimously recommended for approval at a meeting of the upper house, which will be held on March 20.

Ksenia Veretennikova, Andrey Prah