Over 13,000 people convicted for economic crimes are now in prison in Russia – business ombudsman

Boris Titov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 12, 2013) Business ombudsman Boris Titov believes the issue of criminal prosecution of businessmen is blown out of proportion, although law enforcement agencies are frequently biased against businessmen.

“Statements made in the press sometimes blow the issue out of proportion. Statistically, it’s not 300,000 people who have been prosecuted. A little more than 13,000 people, including businessmen and others, are now in prison for economic crimes,” Titov said at a meeting of the Civil Initiatives Committee on Thursday.

Titov gave statistics indicating that the number of criminal cases opened on the basis of economic articles has recently decreased.

“Last year, a little more than 150,000 criminal cases were opened based on economic articles, a little more than 30,000 of them were sent to courts, and a little more than 5,000 criminal cases were closed. The number of criminal cases is decreasing every year,” Titov said.

Titov said the number of addresses he receives about criminal prosecution indicates that businessmen often make claims against each other.

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