The Justice Ministry has proposed expanding the use of community service as an alternative to jail terms to help lessen the burden on the country’s prison system.
The amendments to 47 articles of the Criminal Code, posted on the ministry’s web site and reported Thursday by Vedomosti, include the possibility of community service for crimes ranging from threatening murder to spreading venereal disease.
“Adding obligatory service to the list of punishments can lower the number of people sentenced to jail terms,” the ministry wrote in an explanatory note.
The community service would be “socially useful” work done in convicts’ spare time and would take less than four hours per day. The projects could include landscaping, building and repair, agriculture and other kinds of labor that do not require special training.
Under the Criminal Code, a person can also be sentenced to corrective labor, which is far more serious and included as punishment for many more offenses.
Other crimes included in the Justice Ministry’s proposal are buying drugs, illegal logging, slandering a judge, making false terrorist threats, interfering in a journalist’s work, illegal campaign financing and damaging cultural landmarks. President Dmitry Medvedev has frequently called for the country’s corrective system to be liberalized. In early July, he granted pardons to 15 people imprisoned for minor crimes.
“We must not only humanize punishments but also build a system of criminal penance for light crimes without jailing,” Medvedev told human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin in December.
Earlier this month, Olga Yegorova, head of the Moscow City Court, said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta that she wanted judges to release on bail more suspects awaiting trial for nonviolent crimes.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.