Oleg Orlov: "Constitutional" amnesty not to affect political prisoners from Northern Caucasus

Starting from December 18, an amnesty was launched on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. During six months, allocated for the implementation of the resolution adopted by the State Duma, the amnesty will affect the persons, who are serving their sentences for committing minor crimes. However, the amnesty will not affect the political prisoners from Northern Caucasus and persons convicted under the anti-extremist legislation and under the terrorism-related articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This was stated by Oleg Orlov, a member of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Oleg Orlov believes that this amnesty is less humane than the ones announced earlier. According to his version, the amnesty initiated by the Russian president will affect no more than 2000 prisoners.

"We know how many people in Northern Caucasus have been sentenced on fabricated criminal cases related to participation in IAFs (illegal armed formations, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), under Article 208 (participation in an IAF) and Article 205 (terrorism). It's clear that the amnesty can hardly be applied to the persons sentenced under Article 205; however, a large number of people had been convicted under Article 208. Most of the persons sentenced under Article 208 had no weapons, they were not involved in banditry; and there were no specific elements of crime in their actions," Oleg Orlov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Magomed Mutsolgov, the leader of the human rights organization "Mashr", the custody conditions of the prisoners from the North-Caucasian regions, kept in the Russian penitentiary system, have become worse. He believes that a partial amnesty of the prisoners from the North-Caucasian republics could have positive consequences.