The 2013 amnesty in Russia was significant. Firstly, it is jubilee, and secondly, many scandals and rumors were associated with the upcoming release of some of the convicts or those under investigation. However, most of them were in vain, because At the legislative level, a list of those who fall under the amnesty has been approved. And it is binding and completely non-invariant.
Amnesty is a measure that is applied by decision of the state authority to persons who have committed crimes. Its essence is the full or partial exemption from punishment or the replacement of punishment with a milder one. According to experts and historians, amnesty has been carried out 14 times in Russia in its entire recent history. Of these, 5 on the occasion of the war in the Caucasus, 4 on various anniversary dates.
The amnesty that was announced for the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution was called broad. And this is due, first of all, to the fact that the list of those awaiting pardon is much larger than in previous years.
One of the rumors on the topic: why amnesty is so wide was a myth about overcrowding in prisons. Another option that has been voiced is the injustice of sentences.
Who came under the amnesty 2013
The President of the Russian Federation signed a document in July 2013, according to which those convicted under 27 economic articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were to be released. And this means that the first people to be released should be those convicted under the articles “Credit fraud” and “Business fraud”.
It was most of the reliefs in the economic sphere that gave rise to rumors that the whole amnesty had been started to whitewash A. Serdyukov, who was at that time under investigation by the former Minister of Defense.
All those in prison for non-violent crimes were also to be released. According to statistics, out of those already convicted, about 1, 300, 000 people fell under amnesty, and 25, 000 of those who were in jail.
The lists of potential amnesties include those who have committed crimes of small and medium gravity. Minors, women with young children in their care, pregnant women, ladies over the age of 55, retired men, as well as disabled people of groups 1-2 and those who were sentenced to probation could go free in this category.
Many observers and human rights activists noted that the news of the big amnesty came simultaneously with reports that the FSIN was asking to increase the number of pre-trial detention centers in Russia.
