Ukraine parliament passes bill allowing convicts to join army for parole News
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Ukraine parliament passes bill allowing convicts to join army for parole

The Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) passed a bill on Wednesday that allows some convicts to enlist in the army and be eligible for conditional release from serving their sentences, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said. The bill still needs to be signed by president Zelensky to become law.

Draft law 11079-1 amends the Criminal, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Executive Codes of Ukraine and other laws regarding the introduction of conditional release from prison for direct participation in the defense of the country, protection of its independence and territorial integrity. The bill was received by the parliament on March 28 and then was amended before it was upheld in the first reading on Wednesday by 279 MPs.

Articles 81 and 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regulate conditional release from serving a sentence and evasion of military service. After the draft law is signed, two new Articles 81-1 and 336-2 will be added to the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian MP OlenaShulyak, the key aspects of the draft law are that the mobilization of prisoners, namely the introduction of the mechanism of parole for such categories of citizens, will take place only by court decision. The decision itself must be voluntary on the part of the prisoner, with the consent of the commander of the military unit and in accordance with the mental and physical health requirements for service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including preliminary medical examination in places of detention and subsequent medical examination). In addition, this category of mobilized persons who have served more than three years in prison will serve in special units. Administrative supervision of these released persons will be carried out by the commander of the military unit to which they are assigned.

Additionally, people cannot be mobilized if convicted for:

  • crimes against the foundations of national security of Ukraine;
  • intentional murder of two or more persons, or combined with rape;
  • sexual violence;
  • convictions for criminal offenses under Articles 152-156/1, 258-258/6, part four of Article 286/1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, if such convictions have not been canceled or removed in accordance with the procedure established by law;
  • those who have attempted to kill law enforcement officers;
  • those who committed particularly serious corruption offenses;
  • those who held a particularly responsible position regardless of the article of the offense (ministers, deputies, their deputies and assistants, etc.)

The draft law was condemned by Ukrainian NGO Anti Corruption Action Centre:

The list of those who will not be able to use this law does not include officials of the Presidential Office, heads of state-owned enterprises, investigators, prosecutors and judges.

Thus, part of the work of anti-corruption bodies in previous years may go down the drain. After all, many judges, prosecutors and other officials convicted of corruption are already serving their sentences and will now be able to use this mechanism to get out of prison.

The passed bill is a part of Ukrainian mobilization policy aimed to counteract Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion. Previously, military mobilization rules were also revised to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army.

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