Economic amnesty applied to almost 1,500 people already – commissioner Titov

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – The economic amnesty declared in Russia has been applied to almost 1,500 people already, Russian business commissioner Boris Titov said.

“As of today, a total of 1,479 people have been amnestied,” Titov said during a conference in Moscow on Monday.

The possibilities of the amnesty are not exhausted yet, Titov said.

“We are not completing the amnesty today. Now we have another chance. We hope that courts will treat re-qualification differently now, especially after a relevant review is released, which states clearly that few cases are reconsidered and courts make mistakes often,” Titov said.

Out of all people amnestied, criminal prosecution at the stage of investigation was closed on 614 individuals, among whom 66 people were released from detention facilities; 398 prisoners serving time in jails were released and court closed criminal cases regarding another 403 people, Titov’s administration told Interfax.

Enforcement proceedings were stopped on 64 people and actions of 1,963 people were re-qualified under the Russian Criminal Code Article 159 Part 1 and Article 159 Part 4, thus granting the right for amnesty if no other crimes, to which amnesty is not applicable, were committed and all damage done was repaid.

The damages repaid and property returned amounted to a total of 1,621,131,000 rubles.