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A good example is KAMAZ, which hired eight convicts and plans to increase this number to 150. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a Potemkin project, solely for the sake of the opportunity to somehow report on the demand for FSIN projects on the employment of convicts outside the perimeters of colonies and correctional centers. Just compare the scale – a huge enterprise and 150 convicts. For reference, as of May 2021 in Russia, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, 666 correctional colonies and 106 settlement colonies, so only one detachment of only one of the colonies, if presented in general, will be given work by the mentioned industrial colossus. One medium-sized working barrack. And even then it is only in the plans. The FSIN also plans to develop the Arctic by prisoners. But this, apparently, after KAMAZ. That is, never
What is forced labor?
According to article 53.1 of the Criminal Code, forced labor is used as an alternative to imprisonment for crimes of little or medium gravity, or for committing a serious crime for the first time. They are appointed for terms ranging from two months to five years. As a general rule, those sentenced to forced labor are obliged to live on the territory of a correctional center or an isolated area that functions as a correctional center at the colony (UFIC). If they do not commit violations, after serving at least one third of their sentence, in accordance with Article 60.4 of the Criminal Executive Code, they may be allowed to live with their family outside the institution in the same municipality.
Of the salaries of those sentenced to forced labor, 5-20% is withheld as state revenue, the specific amount is determined by the court. Payments for execution orders are also deducted from the salary, as well as the costs of keeping in the correctional center. Article 60.10 of the PEC establishes that at least 25% of wages are given to convicts.
Compared to 2017, when this type of punishment was just introduced into the criminal legislation, its application has increased significantly. So, in 2017, it was appointed 587 times, and in 2018, 2501 convicts were sent to forced labor. An even sharper jump in the statistics of the assignment of forced labor – up to more than 7 thousand convicts – was in 2019, when new amendments to the Criminal Code allowed the appointment of forced labor as a substitute for punishment for those who are already in prison. Prison Department in 2019 reportedthat “about 190 thousand prisoners in colonies have formal grounds to apply for transfer to forced labor, and more than 6.7 thousand people have already submitted such requests.” In 2020 by statistics The Judicial Department under the Armed Forces sentenced 947 people to forced labor. For the first half of 2021 – 527 people.
According to official statistics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, as of October 1, 2021, 32 correctional centers and 107 UFICs have been created. In total, 7,907 convicts to forced labor are registered. Judging by the above statistics, the majority of convicts serving sentences in correctional centers are those who have been commuted to imprisonment.
But there are problems. The most acute is the issue of the so-called “zeroing” of the sentence for the possibility of parole when the sentence of imprisonment is replaced by forced labor.
Initially, the administrations of the colonies themselves pushed the convicts to submit the appropriate petitions, citing the fact that correctional centers have an easier regime, and it will be much easier to get out on parole. As a result, convicts with ideal characteristics that could allow them to be released on parole were transferred to forced labor.
However, there was a deception. The courts arbitrarily and completely unexpectedly changed the interpretation of the law. Once in correctional centers, when the deadline for parole came, people began to apply for it, and were often refused, because “the deadline for the possibility of parole has not yet come.” Motive – after changing the type of punishment from imprisonment to forced labor, the term of serving the sentence for filing an application for parole is re-calculated.
One of the convicts – Ilya Erekhinsky – came with this problem to the Supreme Court… In December 2019, the Supreme Court forwarded his cassation appeal to the 3rd General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation, indicating that the emergence of the right to parole arises after serving a certain part of the entire sentence imposed by the verdict, and is not nullified when transferred to forced labor.
However, in the spring of 2020, former Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin filed a cassation submission to the Supreme Court on this case. He pointed out that “the state has already minimized criminal repression”, and the release on parole in such a situation “leads to a disproportionate reduction in the unserved part of the sentence in the form of imprisonment.” For the second time, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Armed Forces has already sided with the Prosecutor General’s Office. One of the judges of the collegium – Viktor Smirnov – did not agree with his colleagues and spoke with a dissenting opinion. The Presidium later also supported the Prosecutor General’s Office.
In this situation, there was only hope for the Constitutional Court. However, he did not enter into confrontation with the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Based on his position, now the FSIN finally has the opportunity to legally extend the terms of serving the sentence for convicts who were transferred to correctional labor from the colonies, where they were serving a sentence of imprisonment. It is possible to assume that this finally demotivates those who could apply for a change of punishment to submit a corresponding petition. And in the end, they will be sent to correctional centers, in most cases, they will be sent precisely by a court verdict.
What’s going on in correctional centers?
Under the law, forced labor is a lighter and more flexible regime than imprisonment. For example, convicts go to work without protection, can go to the store, use medical care in clinics, and meet with their families in their free time. They are allowed to carry mobile phones and use the Internet. By the way, thanks in large part to this, we know about the problems that exist in correctional centers.
For example, according to the testimony of those sentenced to forced labor, correctional centers in Uglich and Kazan do not offer jobs: they are directly offered to find work on their own.
In addition, for example, it turned outthat the employees of the administration of correctional centers and UFIC are natives of administrations of correctional colonies who have little idea of how convicts can be given the opportunity to buy food and go to the doctor. According to the experience of convicts serving their sentences at the UFIC at IK-5 of the Leningrad Region, applications to go to the doctor are simply “lost”, or no one considers them, because “there is no time” or “unacceptable day”, respectively, they lose the opportunity to go to the hospital …
There are also problems directly with the conditions of detention. For example, according to the testimony of convicts from the correctional center in Zelenograd, the kitchen may be opened on schedule, as a result of which people do not have time to prepare their own food, showers and toilets may also be closed. As for working conditions, they do not conclude employment contracts with convicts, and, accordingly, deprive them of minimum social guarantees… There are complaints from Kabardino-Balkaria that convicts working the night shift were not allowed to sleep during the day, since this is not provided for by the daily routine of the correctional center.
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