Interfax: Justice minister puts Russia’s prison population at 600,000

MOSCOW. Jan 2 (Interfax) – Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov has estimated the country’s prison population at over 600,000 people.

“The data available as of December 1, 2014 indicate that 671,726 people are being held behind bars, including 562,172 convicted persons, as compared with 680,210 and 571,269, respectively, over the same period in 2013. It is also extremely important that there has been no deterioration or growth of the crime rate,” Konovalov said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

The minister also noted the crucial role performed by court bailiffs.

In January-November 2014, court bailiffs finalized 20.1 million enforcement proceedings, which is 1.6 million more than in the same period of 2013, he said. Up to 108.7 billion rubles was transferred to the consolidated budget, as compared with 101.2 billion rubles in 2013.