The head of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin, criticized the increase in the number of acquittals. In Russia, there are less than 1% of them.

Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia spent an operational meeting with the heads of regional investigative bodies, during which he expressed dissatisfaction with the increase in acquittals in criminal cases.

“The reasons that lead to acquittals are the low quality of the preliminary investigation, failure to take measures to establish all the circumstances to be proved, incomplete verification of the arguments of the defendants, violation of the requirements of the procedural law, which entail the annulment of the evidence of the prosecution,” Bastrykin said.

According to the press service of the department, “the work of the Investigative Department in the Republic of Tatarstan, where an increase in the number of acquittals was noted, was severely criticized.”

The head of the Investigative Committee gave a number of instructions that should be aimed at eliminating “shortcomings” in the work. In addition, Bastrykin suggested punishing the investigators who were guilty of acquittal.

“It is necessary to provide, if necessary, assistance to public prosecutors in substantiating the position of the investigation, including for organizing a prompt appeal against the unjust acquittal. It is necessary to organize training sessions for investigators, which will highlight the mistakes made for the preparation of materials to be sent to the court. Managers need to pay close attention to the quality of the main procedural documents, apply strict disciplinary measures to investigators who have committed procedural violations that led to acquittals, ”added the chairman of the Investigative Committee.

In 2021, more than 73 thousand criminal cases were sent to Russian courts against approximately 82 thousand people. Moreover, the courts acquitted less than 1% of the defendants.