Uniform discrimination – Newspaper Kommersant No. 194 (7395) dated 10/19/2022

Service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs should not become an aggravating circumstance in sentencing for an intentional crime. Yuri Sinelshchikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation, insists on this. The day before, he submitted a relevant bill to the chamber, indicating, among other things, that this circumstance in the commission of intentional crimes is nothing more than “actual discrimination” against employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Experts interviewed by Kommersant fear that the amendment will lead to even greater legal inequality between citizens and law enforcement officers.

In 2010, when the police reform was taking place in Russia, a clause was introduced into the Criminal Code on “the commission of an intentional crime by an employee of the internal affairs body.” He became the fifteenth in the list of “aggravating circumstances” (Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) along with “revenge”, “recidivism”, “a group of persons”, “motives of political hatred”, crimes against minors and others. The legislators explained that service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as an aggravating circumstance in the commission of a deliberate crime, would increase the level of responsibility of the police, and citizens and organizations “will protect against illegal actions of employees of the internal affairs bodies.” However, in reality, this has become “actual discrimination” against police officers compared to employees of other law enforcement agencies, according to an explanatory note to the bill, which was submitted to the State Duma on Tuesday by Communist Party deputy Yury Sinelshchikov.

“Law and order in Russia is ensured, in addition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, by employees of the courts, the prosecutor’s office, the FSB, the FSO, the Russian Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the military police, customs, etc.,” the document says. “The fact that the offender belongs to these structures is not an aggravating circumstance, which is obvious not fair”.

Mr. Sinelshchikov, however, does not propose to include the mentioned list of state structures in the Criminal Code, he proposes to exclude from the code the mention of belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The courts, he insists, will not have to take into account the service in the bodies when sentencing in criminal cases. As an argument, the deputy cites the statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office (without specifying the period): “The number of crimes among employees of all law enforcement agencies averages no more than 1% of the total number of crimes committed in the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of this one percent accounts for less than one thirds.”

From the package of documents posted on the website of the State Duma, it also follows that the amendment is “supported” by the government of the Russian Federation, and the Supreme Court “has no comments and suggestions” to this bill.

Discrimination against the police in this case is “really present,” agrees a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) Igor Kalyapin (part of the commission for the development of the law enforcement system, for more than 20 years he headed the Committee against Torture, now included in the list of NGOs performing the functions of a foreign agent) . He, however, points out that the reference to the statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which justifies the bill, is “completely crooked”, as it rather shows the poor quality work of the investigating authorities, the prosecutor’s office and the courts in cases against employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “Police officers are rarely held accountable because of many informal obstacles,” Mr. Kalyapin points out. that the case will definitely go to court.

The human rights activist recalls that employees of law enforcement agencies have the authority to restrict the rights of citizens, use physical force and weapons, which are abused “not so much by prosecutors and FSB officers, but by the police.” The exclusion of the norm in question from the Criminal Code “will only increase the trend of inequality and impunity,” Igor Kalyapin believes: “It would be possible to include all representatives of law enforcement agencies in the relevant paragraph of Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and this, I believe, would save the Ministry of Internal Affairs from discrimination would be an alternative solution.”

Lawyer Anastasia Burakova, in turn, explains the proposal to change the Criminal Code in favor of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the “spirit of the times”: “The loyalty of the security forces is strongly emphasized not only in law enforcement practice, but also in legislation.” She recalls that a police officer “must meet the requirements for the position, have stable moral and volitional qualities, as he is a representative of the authorities.” “Therefore, responsibility for crimes is distributed not only to the individual, but also de facto casts a shadow on all law enforcement agencies,” says Ms. Burakova. “For example, crimes against the order of government include, among other things, crimes against employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

The list of crimes against the order of government (they are regulated by Chapter 32 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) includes 22 articles of the Criminal Code, including “insulting a representative of authority”, “use of violence against a representative of authority” and “encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer”. “The object of encroachment here is a state institution. If the investigation establishes that a crime against an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was committed in connection with the performance of his official duties, then it will be qualified as a crime against the order of administration,” recalls Ms. Burakova.

Maria Starikova