Deputies from Bashkiria prepare bill on sending convicts to war in Ukraine

MPs from the parliament of the Republic of Bashkiria have prepared and submitted a bill to the State Duma which establishes a legal basis for sending convicts to war. This was reported by Interfax, citing the speaker of the State Assembly, Konstantin Tolkachev. This bill was not in the State Duma database at the time of writing.

According to Tolkachev, convicts who are drawn “to participate in a special military operation or other military actions in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation” may be granted a postponement of their sentence. They proposed counting the time spent in the area of military operations as imprisonment at the rate of one in ten - one day of participation in the military operation for ten days of imprisonment in the colony.

It is also assumed, said the speaker of the Bashkir parliament, that in the case of injury which makes further military participation impossible, questions on the rest of the sentence and its mitigation would be decided by the court.

According to Tolkachev, it is planned that those convicted of suxual crimes against minors under 14 years old, and a number of other grave criminal offenses, will not be eligible for a suspended sentence due to participation in military operations. All other convicts may only serve with their voluntary consent, he said.

According to Tolkachev, the involvement of convicts in special operations and other military actions will strengthen the Armed Forces. Moreover, the speaker of the Bashkir parliament added, “participating in military actions in defense of the interests of the Russian Federation will allow the convicted person to redeem his guilt before society and thus achieve the goals of criminal punishment.”

In the past few months, it has been repeatedly reported that prisoners are being recruited in Russian colonies to be sent to the war in Ukraine. Prisoners have been promised pardons and cash payments. There has also been unconfirmed information about the forced sending of convicts to the war.

Currently, Russian legislation does not consider participation in hostilities as a basis for the postponement of punishment. In mid-September, members of the Presidential Human Rights Council asked the Prosecutor General to check relevant reports and explain on what basis convicts with outstanding prison sentences, including those for grave crimes, were sent to the war.

Creator of PMC Wagner and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has been involved in the recruitment of prisoners. Prigozhin himself, without directly confirming it, said “either PMCs and convicts, or your children will participate in the war.

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