MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. A resolution on declaring amnesty on occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War will be published soon, the head of the State Duma committee for civil, criminal, arbitration and procedural law said on Friday.
"I hope that we will publish it today or tomorrow and therefore it [amnesty] will come into force," Pavel Krasheninnikov told reporters, adding that the text will be published in the official Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
On Friday, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is due to consider in the second and third readings the presidential draft on amnesty timed for the 70th anniversary of Victory over Nazi Germany.
Amnesty could be granted up to 60,000 convicts and up to 200,000 people with suspended sentences in Russia. Krasheninnikov earlier said amnesty could apply to up to 400,000 people.
Those eligible for amnesty are suspects and persons sentenced to up to five years in prison for minor offences. Amnesty will be granted to juveniles, women with underage children, pregnant women, elderly people, handicapped people and persons suffering from cancer and open tuberculosis.