On January 18, the Expert Council of United Russia supported the draft law on tougher punishment for torture. Also, the initiative of the party was approved by representatives of the institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.
As one of the authors of the bill, MrLave of the Duma Committee on Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov, said, the document introduces amendments to the Criminal Code and proposes to increase the sanction for exceeding official powers committed with the use of torture, up to 12 years in prison.
“These crimes are transferred to the category of especially serious ones. The statute of limitations for them will increase from 10 to 15 years. Since the Convention against Torture is in force in Russia, we define the wording „torture“ in the bill. A new subject of crime appears — law enforcement officer, and not just the Federal Penitentiary Service, — he emphasized.
Krashenninikov noted that this document is important for everyone and needs to be adopted in the near future.
“Including for law enforcement officers themselves. So that they understand that if one of the unscrupulous law enforcement officers ends up in this group, then criminal liability will come, — he said.
Moreover, according to him, it is not worth limiting yourself to these measures. It is necessary to organize video surveillance in order to see what is happening in the cells, in medical stations, in places of deprivation of liberty, in isolation centers and other places where this is possible.
“Other amendments will be developed by the second reading. We discussed them with law enforcement officers. But now we are showing the society that we are ready to regulate this problem,” — concluded Krasheninnikov.