The Supreme Court proposed the immediate release of prisoners with serious illnesses

The Supreme Court (SC) has initiated a bill stipulating that convicts with serious illnesses should be released immediately after a court decision on release. The project was approved at a meeting of the plenum of the Supreme Court, which was chaired by the chairman of the court, Vyacheslav Lebedev.

The initiative was presented by Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council Vladimir Davydov. Currently, according to the law, convicts with serious illnesses are released after 15 days provided for appealing a court decision. “Decisions on release from serving sentences due to serious illness were made by the courts: in 2020 – in relation to 2219 persons, in 2021 – 2013 persons, in 2022 – 2132 persons, in the first half of 2023 – 1086 persons,” said Mr. Davydov (quote from TASS).

It is proposed to amend Art. 399 Code of Criminal Procedure. It should stipulate that a court decision regarding the release of a convicted person from serving a sentence due to illness “is subject to immediate execution.”

In March, the head of the Ministry of Justice, Konstantin Chuychenko, announced that the department would conduct an “audit” of medical care for convicts in Russian colonies. The need for this, according to him, was caused by disappointing statistics from the Federal Penitentiary Service. According to it, although the number of prisoners in places of deprivation of liberty is decreasing, “mortality remains at the same level,” although Mr. Chuychenko did not provide specific figures.

Details – in the material “Kommersant” “Prison medicine will be diagnosed”.

Laura Keffer