MOSCOW, April 24 /TASS/. Russia has officially launched an amnesty campaign on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). The Russian State Duma lower house of parliament passed an amnesty bill, that has already been published on the official Internet portal of legal information, earlier on Friday.

The amnesty bill had been submitted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The amnesty will apply to all suspects, defendants and first-time convicts guilty of minor crimes and crimes of medium gravity whose prison sentences do not exceed five years. There is no amnesty for those behind bars for grave crimes such as murder, terrorism, drug trafficking and kidnapping.

According to preliminary estimates, up to 60,000 convicts and up to 200,000 people under suspended sentences may be released during the six-month-long amnesty campaign.

The last amnesty was declared in December 2013 on the occasion of jubilee anniversary of the Russian Constitution.