United Russia Tones Down Amnesty Plan

March 25, 2010

United Russia has backed away from a proposal to grant amnesty to 333,200 people, including 46,200 prisoners, amid pressure from the Kremlin, Gazeta.ru reported Wednesday.

The party withdrew the amnesty bill from the State Duma in favor of an alternative that would grant amnesty to only about 100 war veterans, the author of the new bill, senior United Russia Deputy Pavel Krasheninnikov, told Gazeta.ru.

The Kremlin favored releasing about 50 war veterans from prison as part of celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany on May 9, a United Russia source told Gazeta.ru.

(MT)

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