Interfax: Amnesty fully applies to Serdyukov – source

MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) – The amnesty declared for the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution fully applies to former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, a source familiar with the situation has told Interfax.

“He qualifies according to all criteria named in the amnesty, namely the crime he is charged with implies punishment of up to two years, and he belongs to the group of persons involved ‘in actions to defend the Fatherland,'” the source said on Monday.

Besides, the former minister “surely has government decorations,” the source said.

“Still under the law the final decision on the question whether or not amnesty can be applied to Serdyukov should be made by investigators,” the source said.

He said that in compliance with the established procedure the investigator examining the criminal case of an individual to whom the amnesty applies shall duly notify the suspect and his/her lawyers.

“Only after that they can file a motion to the investigation for closing the criminal case in relation to the act of amnesty,” the source said.

The law permits people who qualify for amnesty to refuse to be amnestied. “A person under investigation may declare that he doesn’t regard himself guilty and is ready to prove his innocence in court. The way some people did in the past, for instance, the late General Valentin Varennikov in 1993 and recently a suspect in the Oboronservice case, the head of a Russian-Italian joint venture charged in relation to the procurement of Italian IVECO armored vehicles,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Serdyukov’s defense says no motion for stopping the criminal case in relation to the amnesty has been filed. “We will definitely not do that today. We are still examining the materials of the criminal case as well as the amnesty law,” Serdyukov’s lawyer Konstantin Rivkin told Interfax on Monday.