MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) Yeva Merkachyova has prepared and handed over to Russian President Vladimir Putin a list of convicts for possible pardon, said HRC head Valery Fadeyev.

"Yeva Merkachyova handed the list to the president. I absolutely support her. At an HRC meeting, she did not have a list, and she outlined those categories of convicts who, in her opinion, could be pardoned. The president asked for a list. She has prepared such a list," Fadeyev told reporters.

Fadeyev does not expect the pardons to take place before the New Year. "If this does not happen, it does not mean that the idea has been rejected. Usually people are amnestied on holidays, on a specific date, while there’s more wiggle room with pardons," said Fadeyev.

At the HRC meeting Merkachyova put forward several initiatives to develop the jury trial, as well as pardon on the occasion of the New Year. She said she has traditionally asked the president to pardon people with disabilities, and women with children. Putin asked the human rights activist to send her proposals to the Kremlin for New Year's pardons.

On March 8, 2024, Putin pardoned 52 women. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time that the decision was related to amnesty for some categories of women, which Merkachyova raised at an HRC meeting.