Coming out after the summer holidays, the Constitutional Court immediately took up a high-profile case, finding out whether Russians previously convicted of serious and especially serious crimes can become deputies, governors or heads of municipalities.
Gennady Egorov from the Moscow region, Alexander Kazakov from Orel, Igor Kravtsov from Vladivostok, Alexander Kupriyanov from the Kirov region, Alexey Latypov from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Viktor Sinkov wanted to participate in the regional elections held on October 14, 2012. We note that all of them had convictions for serious and especially serious crimes expunged or expunged. Some went as self-nominees, collecting signatures, others - as members of federal parties, applying for various posts, but mainly at the municipal level or, say, for the seat of a deputy at the regional level. However, the registration of all six was canceled in court, because when checking the data, the applicants came across amendments to the electoral legislation adopted literally a couple of months before the start of the active election campaign. These changes directly prohibit those who have been sentenced by a court for committing serious and especially serious crimes from running for office. The law does not provide exceptions even in cases like that of applicant Latypov: he was convicted of grand theft - in 1997, the value of the stolen property was 101,100,000 rubles, after denomination, three zeros were crossed out from the amount, and the crime became of medium gravity, but the mechanism There are no changes in qualifications in the legislation. “It turns out that we have such a beautiful big door to a bright future and it is not forbidden to enter it, but there is neither a key nor workshops in which such keys are made,” summed up his lawyer Anastasia Rastorgueva. Therefore, together with the others, Latypov’s complaint was considered yesterday by the Constitutional Court. “Direct power is concentrated in the hands of elected officials,” insisted State Duma representative in the Constitutional Court Dmitry Vyatkin, “and very, very much depends on who will represent our citizens. Unfortunately, in 2010-2012 there were very disappointing statistics: although the number grave and especially grave crimes decreased - from 684,347 to 569 thousand, but the number of crimes committed by previously convicted persons increased - from 92,687 in 2010 to 102,657 two years later. All this required the adoption of legislative measures. Penetration into representative bodies authorities and local government representatives of criminal communities represented and pose a real threat."
“I did not understand the motives of the legislators,” Mikhail Barshchevsky, the government representative in the Constitutional Court, honestly admitted. - The motive is to prevent criminals from coming into power - this is clear to me, and I completely agree with it. By the way, all the crowned thieves in law for whom I was able to find information did not have particularly serious charges.
He considers the lack of consideration of individual situations to be a major drawback of the contested norms. For example, human rights activist Sergei Kovalev would not be able to become a deputy under the new norm. Two teenagers converted a traumatic pistol into a combat pistol - they will not be deputies for life, but if they did the same thing individually, they can. Barshchevsky believes that in this case the legislator could well introduce restrictions on each article, prohibiting, for example, permanent election to power for those convicted of high treason, terrorism, drug trafficking, as well as repeat offenders, “a barrier must be put in place, because that relapse is a way of life."
Member of the Central Election Commission Maya Grishina partially confirmed Vyatkin’s position with real figures, noting that “attempts to nominate persons with a criminal past continue.” Indeed, among approximately 146 thousand candidates in 2009, there were 22 previously convicted of serious and especially serious crimes; in 2010, out of 203 thousand applicants, there were 55 of them; in 2011, 73 out of 104 thousand nominated candidates; and According to the preliminary results of the elections on September 8 this year, there are 150 candidates. Grishina also told a real case when the head of one of the municipalities in the Magadan region became a former killer of a policeman, convicted before the adoption of the Russian Constitution, in Soviet times, although in this entity there is a school named after the deceased policeman. “The electorate itself has the right to decide who it needs and who it doesn’t,” one of the lawyers, Vladimir Suchkov, firmly stated. “The population knew that he had committed a crime, but years passed, the man changed, and people believed him,” added lawyer Evgeniy Korovin. “Look at the attitude of the person who committed the crime,” Rastorgueva supported, “this more clearly shows the need for an individual approach.” “This example is terrifying in its cynicism,” Vyatkin was indignant, “and it is a disaster for the country if we say that this is normal.”
The Constitutional Court will check for compliance with the Basic Law the norms of the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation", the Criminal Code, as well as the provisions of the electoral legislation of the Kirov Region and Primorsky Territory. A decision on the case will be made within a month.
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Gathering into power
The country experienced another single voting day. On the eve of the elections, information appeared that United Russia nominated 55 former criminals on the lists for the Altai Republic. People with criminal records are on the electoral lists in many regions. Why are they striving for power? And why do partycrats willingly accept them into their ranks, and why do voters vote for them?
Six years ago, Vyacheslav Volodin, then the first deputy head of the presidential administration, and now the speaker of the State Duma, asked fellow United Russia party members not to nominate candidates with a criminal record, even if it had been expunged. However, the Altai incident showed that it seems that they did not listen to him. To be fair, it is worth noting that previously convicted candidates are running for elections not only from United Russia. They are also on the lists of other parties, and the largest percentage is among self-nominated candidates. In general, the share of people with a criminal past amounted to 2.2% of all those who decided to run for regional and municipal deputies on September 9. That is, every 50th candidate has a criminal record. For comparison: in the 2017 elections there were 1.9% of the total number of people participating in the elections. According to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Referendums of Citizens of the Russian Federation,” candidates are required to indicate information about their criminal record, including those expunged and expunged. This information is included on the ballot.
Thieves, racketeers, rapists
Let's take a closer look at that same list for the Altai Republic. Nikolai Ebechekov, who has a criminal record for rape, was nominated to the council of deputies of the Beshpeltir village council. Vladimir Tebekov, a candidate for deputy of the Beltir village council, was convicted of complicity in organizing a criminal community. Vladimir Aidunov, who ran for the council of deputies of the Djektiek village council, received a conviction for theft of state, or public, property back in Soviet times. And Amyr Kaltashev, a candidate for the council of deputies of the Ust-Kansky district, found a whole “bouquet” of articles: theft, illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, production, processing of narcotic drugs, violation of the inviolability of the home. At the same time, it seems that two of the five convictions at the time of his participation in the elections were not yet expunged.
In addition, three people from the United Russia list were convicted of threatening to kill and causing grievous bodily harm. Probably, in this case we could be talking about racketeering. Who are these wonderful people? Candidate for deputy of the Kurai rural settlement Eduard Kukpekov, candidate for deputy of the Mendur-Sokkon rural settlement Amyr Matin and, apparently, candidate for deputy of the Ynyrginsky rural settlement Alexander Ozhogov. Against this background, Vladimir Novikov, who participated in the struggle for the seat of deputy of the Karakokshinsky rural settlement, stands out somewhat - he has a criminal record for “torture.” Vladimir Karmanov, a party nominee for deputy of the Ust-Kansky district, could have appeared on the United Russia lists, but he was removed from the elections for concealing information about his criminal record.
Forgiving voter
Can a criminal record turn voters against a candidate? This is probably what the political strategists were hoping for when they produced leaflets and posters with the name and photograph of the rival candidate, accompanied by the slogan: “My criminal record has been expunged! (Article 228 – sale of drugs).” This technique was common in many regions. But practice shows that Russian voters are merciful and forgiving. It seems that in the same Altai Republic, the current head of the Dmitrievsky rural settlement, Alexey Popov, was once convicted of theft. And nothing, I won once and decided to run again. Why not? In 2016, Anton Sekerzhitsky, convicted of rape, was elected to the Tver City Duma from United Russia.
Previously convicted candidates are running for elections not only from United Russia. They are also on the lists of other parties. Overall, the share of people with a criminal past was 2.2% of all those who decided to run for office.
Of course, it happens that people with a criminal past take the path of reform. But not always. Here's a very recent story. Evgeny Surnin, who was convicted three times, sits in the meeting of deputies of the city of Rezha, Sverdlovsk region. He participated in the elections as a self-nominated candidate, but supported the United Russia program. He gained fame not so much due to his legislative activities as to his tattoo in the form of a spider, spread over the entire surface of his bald head. Evgeny Surnin is a local entrepreneur. He received two convictions for hooliganism and one for malicious violation of the rules of administrative supervision. At the same time, the residents of Rezh - it is unknown, themselves or thanks to the efforts of political strategists - speak of him as a man of action. Like, he promised to install a memorial plaque for veterans - he did. He is credited with building a bridge across the river and organizing tea parties for local grandmothers. Criminal records are attributed to youthful mistakes. True, there are rumors that Surnin allegedly did not give up crime and tried to become a “city watchman,” but something didn’t work out, so he became a deputy.
And now he is suspected of stabbing either a drinking companion or his employee, who allegedly stole tools from the sawmill. True, Surnin himself came to the police and declared his non-involvement in the incident.
Large fish
However, we are all talking about rural and urban deputies. In the 2016 elections, as many as 10 people with a criminal record entered the State Duma – such data was provided by the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Bulaev. But he then refused to name specific names.
It is known that Pavel Dorokhin, a deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Duma of the sixth and seventh convocations, has a criminal record. In 2000, he was convicted of illegal possession of weapons and was subsequently amnestied. Apparently, Dorokhin is still ashamed of his past, and therefore did not indicate this controversial fact of his biography when he was nominated by the Communist Party for governor of the Tyumen region, which is why he was refused registration. Now Dorokhin continues to work in the Duma. If you look at his income statements, you can understand why people, including those with a dark past, are attracted to parliament. In 2010, when Dorokhin was just getting ready to run for election, his annual income was 2.9 million rubles. He had one apartment with an area of 30.64 square meters and one passenger car - a Toyota Camry. And here is the declaration from 2017, after six years of parliament. Now the deputy’s income has already amounted to 4.6 million rubles, and he also has a land plot with an area of 292 square meters. There are already three apartments: the deputy owns one himself, the other two are registered to his wife. And there are also three cars. BMW and Lexus are registered to Dorokhin, Rover is registered to his wife.
Perhaps the most famous deputy with a criminal past is Andrei Lugovoy from the LDPR. Let's put aside the suspicions of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, which the British put forward against Lugovoy and thanks to which, as many believe, he could get into the Duma - Lugovoy has a “domestic” article for organizing an unsuccessful escape from the prison of Aeroflot manager Nikolai Glushkov. The media wrote then that Badri Patarkatsishvili could have ordered the escape. Glushkov himself claimed that all this was set up by the FSB in order to leave him in prison, and Lugovoi was carrying out the assignment of his own “office”. Be that as it may, his criminal record did not prevent him from becoming a deputy. At the same time, Lugovoy is a member of the Security and Anti-Corruption Committee. Everything is fine in his life - the deputy’s declaration for 2017 shows an income of 4.5 million rubles. Together with his wife, they own three plots of land, four residential buildings and two apartments, the third is registered in the name of the child. The Lugovoys also own a swimming pool with an area of 151 square meters. Both vehicles - HYNDAI Grand Santa Fe and Infiniti - are registered to the wife.
Red herring
There is a version that all these exotic initiatives are nothing more than a distraction. Law enforcement agencies have long been interested in Mikheev; a trail of scandals follows him from his native Volgograd. While still studying at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, he was sentenced to three years in prison with confiscation of property for speculation. But then he was lucky: the future spravoross spent only a few months in prison, after which the article was removed from the Criminal Code and Mikheev was released.
Years passed, he went into business, headed the Diamond group, specializing in the construction of shopping and entertainment centers. In August 2007, searches were carried out at 53 enterprises of Oleg Mikheev, and he himself was detained in a criminal case for tax evasion on a particularly large scale. Apparently, in those days the businessman became interested in politics. Moreover, the status of a federal deputy gives immunity, and this is very important in case of problems with the law. Mikheev joined A Just Russia and began to actively build a party career. In 2010–2012, he became the party’s chief of staff, heading its federal headquarters in the State Duma elections. However, law enforcement officers continued to dig. In 2013, the Investigative Committee opened a case against Mikheev under three criminal articles at once - attempted fraud, fraud on an especially large scale and pressure on the court. The deputy himself called Senator Dmitry Ananyev the mastermind of his persecution. In February 2013, the State Duma, on the recommendation of the Prosecutor General’s Office, even deprived Mikheev of parliamentary immunity. He appealed to the Supreme Court, but it was rejected. And in February last year, the hiding Mikheev was put on the federal wanted list by the Investigative Committee of Russia.
Similar work
The path from “authorities” to deputies became a traditional “springboard” for many active figures of the 90s. By the way, their work specifics are similar. Both “godfathers” and deputies are engaged in accepting the population and helping to solve problems. If the path to power is closed to the “dons” themselves, the careers of “respected people” are open to their children and other relatives.
At the end of March in Tuapse, unknown persons opened fire on an Audi car, driven by a member of the council of the municipal formation “Tuapse District” from the United Russia party, deputy chairman of the Committee on Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Business, Artur Podolsky. Despite the fact that the people's representative was hit by two bullets, he was able to leave the scene and get to the hospital, where he was treated. Before this, killers attempted to kill his brother. Arthur Podolsky is considered a respected person in the city - according to SPARK, he owns companies involved in construction and waste disposal. According to the declaration of 2015, the deputy owns 37 apartments, 18 different premises, three non-residential buildings and a fleet of prestigious cars. What was the reason for the assassination attempt - perhaps the business activities of the people's representative in power? Perhaps so, although there is another version. Some recall that Arthur Podolsky is the son of an “authoritative” figure from Anapa, Walter Harutyunyan, who was shot dead near Anapa in the fall of 2013. Therefore, the shots were associated with the redistribution of spheres of influence, which began after the security forces detained another Anapa authority deputy, Sergei Zirinov.
On this topic
US President Donald Trump called for an investigation into the leader of the Democrats in the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, who lied when she said that she had never met with the Russian Ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak.
In 2016, the ranking of the most wanted criminals compiled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was headed by Nikolai Emelyanov, nicknamed Emelya, who is called the “watchdog” for the Bryansk region. Emelya is suspected of organizing many murders. At the same time, many are surprised how such a person could grow up in a family characterized by decency and law-abidingness. Emelya’s older brother Alexander, for example, first headed the Zhiryatinsky, and then, in 2009, the Bryansk region. Emelya’s nephew Viktor, soon after Denin’s victory in the elections, took the position of assistant to the governor, then received the post of director of the Bryansk Guarantee Fund, and then ended up in the leadership of the city of Fokino. The son of an authority figure became a deputy of the Seltsovo City Council from United Russia, writes the portal gorodbryansk.info.
There are other examples. In 2013, Chelyabinsk police detained Anatoly Fedorchenko, deputy of the Troitsk city assembly, on charges of creating an organized crime group that extorted money from local businessmen. By the time he came to power, he had already been convicted twice - for rape and for forcing a victim (witness) to give false testimony. Fedorchenko died last year. Now his son has decided to take his place on the city council. He went to the elections under the slogan “I continue the best.”
Or take Rostov-on-Don. Who among the townspeople in the 1990s did not hear about Sasha Sobol, who controlled the largest car market in the south of Russia and at the same time, according to various opinions, a “boxing” organized crime group? And in 2015, the Donnews portal reported: 27-year-old Evgeniy Sobolev, the son of authoritative businessman Alexander Sobolev, known to the generation of the 90s as Sobol, was running for elections to the Rostov City Duma. By the way, he won the elections and is currently engaged in lawmaking with the mandate of a member of the United Russia party.
In this regard, experts say: there is nothing surprising in this turn of events; Russia is just repeating world experience. We have lived through the period of primitive accumulation of capital, and now the time has come for its legalization. How can one not recall Don Corleone, who reasoned with satisfaction: “We are lucky in this country. Most of our children found a better life for themselves.
I hope that my grandchildren’s children will become governors, and maybe even president – who knows?” And that’s true - I’m lucky with the country.
SPECIFICALLY
The most famous dictators and the most charismatic rulers were in prison. Everyone who studied in a Soviet school knows the story of how Lenin wrote his prison letters with milk, making an “inkwell” from bread crumb. Stalin was imprisoned six times, and only the first time for political reasons. The rest of his sentences were for robbery. Hitler was serving his sentence for organizing the Munich Putsch on November 8–9, 1923. Fidel Castro was sentenced to 15 years for organizing the attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba. South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, was accused of organizing a workers' strike in 1961 and illegally crossing the state border. In 1962, the court sentenced him to five years in prison. The President of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, Hugo Chavez, served two years for attempting to seize power.
In the regional and municipal elections, which will be held on September 9, every 50th candidate has a criminal record. Most of them were punished for theft and beatings, but there were also those who received prison terms for hostage-taking or forging election documents.
Theft, fraud and hostage taking
On a single voting day, September 9, in 2018, more than three thousand elections of deputies at various levels were held. About 52 thousand Russians are applying for positions. According to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Referendums of Citizens of the Russian Federation,” nominated or nominated candidates for deputies, when registering, are required to indicate information about their criminal record, including expunged and expunged ones.
Photo source: RIA Novosti/Nikolai Khizhnyak State Automated Information System “Elections” posted the information received. It turned out that about 2.2% - that's about 1.2 thousand people - have a criminal record. Most often, self-nominated people violated the law - every 20th candidate was convicted. Party representatives did not stand aside either. The leader was the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - 3.5% of the candidates proposed by the communists were convicted. Many in the dashing 90s participated in unclean deeds.
“Yabloko” came in second place. Its members lagged behind by only one tenth - 3.4% of candidates from this party were convicted. Then Rodina with 3%. In fourth place in the anti-rating is A Just Russia - 2.8%. In addition, 1.5% of nominated United Russia members have a criminal record.
Most often, future deputies were accused of theft, beatings and hooliganism. More than half indicated in the questionnaires that the criminal record had already been expunged, and another part indicated that it had been expunged: this could happen if a person was granted an amnesty, pardon, or the court expunged the criminal record upon petition.
Some deputies distinguished themselves more than once. For example, a 33-year-old self-nominated candidate from Tatarstan was convicted nine times: for robbery, theft and repeated fraud.
Five nominated candidates were previously convicted under Articles 141 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and 142 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights or the work of election commissions” and “Falsification of election documents, referendum documents”). The election commissions refused to register three of them.
Among those running for deputies of the Ivanovo region there are candidates with more “interesting” articles. The pensioner was convicted of theft “from clothing, a bag or other carry-on luggage”; the conviction has already been expunged. And the candidate for the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk region has a criminal record for taking a hostage expunged.
Party barrier
Photo source: RIA Novosti/Anton Vergunov State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Leonid Kalashnikov told 360 that candidates most often hide their criminal records. Neither the party leadership nor its other members know about it. “If the Central Election Commission or the regional commission missed it, then the party will have no way of knowing. It is unlikely that a normal party will accept criminals. Even with regard to my rivals, I cannot say that they would be happy to take criminals and delinquents into their ranks. Now is not the situation of the 90s, when this was done because of money, because of some kind of pressure,” the deputy said.
Kalashnikov noted that the party is trying to put up a barrier that will not allow criminal people to enter government bodies. “We have already passed the 90s. I remember the first murder of a deputy - just from the Moscow region. He was shot as he was leaving his house. Those days are gone, many barriers have been put up. If such candidates pass at the municipal level, it means that legislators have not done something. This means that some other amendments need to be made to the election law,” the parliamentarian emphasized.
Acting head of the central executive committee of United Russia, Alexander Borisov, told 360 that the party does not allow deputies who have a criminal record into the State Duma. In regional elections, this sometimes happens, but this criminal record must be expunged.
“We, of course, would like the deputies to be unconvicted, crystal clear people, but this does not always work out that way. Especially in municipal campaigns. Everything is strict in the United Russia party; we have the smallest percentage of people with criminal records,” noted Alexander Borisov.
Chairman of Yabloko Emilia Slabunova told “360” that this party has no candidates with a criminal record. She considers the nomination of such people unacceptable, and only deputies convicted on political grounds can become exceptions.
“We don’t have such candidates, we don’t think it’s right to nominate such people. The fact that people with criminal records, even expunged, are running for deputies characterizes the authorities extremely negatively. We see that almost like weather reports, information appears about corruption crimes related to the arrests of deputies,” noted the party chairman.
Slabunova believes that the emergence of such candidates will result in a loss of trust in the authorities and in the institution of elections. And there are candidates with a criminal record due to personnel shortages.
Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Sverdlovsk Region from A Just Russia, Dmitry Ionin, noted that the region is trying to weed out candidates with criminal records. “But you still need to look at each person individually. It is not necessary that any criminal record can influence the fact that a person is unpopular in society. For example, in Yekaterinburg, ex-mayor Roizman was elected by a majority of votes; he had a criminal record and did not hide it. Each question is individual. If these are, of course, scoundrels who have been convicted of socially dangerous things, then such people should under no circumstances be allowed to participate in the elections. And if there are controversial things related to criminal records that were prosecuted under Soviet law, but not under Russian law, then it’s up to the voter to choose,” the legislator told 360.
According to Ionin, this year the statistics were greatly spoiled by self-nominated candidates. “Self-nominees spoiled the picture. The party did not allow them, but now they can go on their own. There are territories where historically there are many candidates with criminal records, for example, the North. There people already occupy high positions with criminal records. I won’t say that the statistics have changed much,” the deputy noted.
Fyodor Biryukov, a member of the presidium of the Rodina party, told 360 that in their organization there is a small percentage of criminal records, because there is serious control over this. In his opinion, the ratings are deliberately escalating the situation. “In fact, these ratings also take into account expunged convictions. And this turns out to be black PR - when there is nothing to show to the party, they start counting criminal records,” he concluded.
About 2.2% of those who decided to run for regional and municipal deputies on September 9 have a criminal record, RBC calculated. Most often - for theft and beatings, but there are also those convicted of hostage-taking and forgery of election documents
Photo: Alexander Koryakov / Kommersant
With drive - for elections
On a single voting day, September 9, more than 4.5 thousand elections of deputies at various levels are scheduled to take place in Russia. According to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation,” those nominated or nominated as candidates for deputies are required to indicate information about their criminal record, including expunged and expunged. RBC, based on data from the State Automated System “Elections,” calculated how many Previously convicted Russians decided to run for regional and municipal parliaments.
Who is not accepted as a deputy?
According to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Citizens’ Electoral Rights,” Russians convicted of committing serious or especially serious crimes cannot stand for election if their conviction has not been cleared or expunged by voting day. Those convicted of extremism and subjected to administrative punishment under Art. are also deprived of passive voting rights. 20.3 of the Administrative Code (propaganda or public display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols of extremist organizations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, the propaganda or public display of which is prohibited by federal laws). Restrictions do not apply to people with expunged or expunged criminal convictions.
According to Art. 66 of the Criminal Code, a criminal record is considered expunged at the end of the period established by law from the beginning of serving the sentence. Expungement provides for the annulment of all consequences that a criminal conviction causes. Clearance of a criminal record is possible by court decision or after an amnesty or pardon.
In total, about 52.2 thousand people nominated themselves to participate in the elections to representative bodies of power taking place on a single voting day in 2018, that is, submitted documents for registration to the election commissions, from parties or as self-nominated people. Every second of them is from United Russia, every sixth is a self-nominated candidate. At the same time, almost 1.2 thousand of the nominated candidates have a criminal record (about 2.2% of all nominated ones). Among United Russia members there are about 1.5% of those nominated by the party. The highest percentage of convictions among self-nominated candidates is about 4.6% (about every 20th). Among those nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko, approximately every 30th person has a criminal record.
For comparison, in 2017, in all regional and municipal elections of deputies, about 55.3 thousand people were nominated as candidates, of which about a thousand had a criminal record, that is, 1.9% of all those nominated. Among self-nominated candidates, the share of those with criminal records was 2.9% (the same percentage among Just Russia and candidates from the Growth Party). Of the major parties, only Yabloko had more: out of 100 party candidates throughout Russia, four had a criminal record. Thus, the share of convicted persons among self-nominated candidates increased by more than one and a half times.
From theft to hostage taking
The most common crimes for which nominated candidates for deputies were convicted were theft (every fifth with a criminal record), beatings and intentional harm to health of varying degrees of severity (every tenth with a criminal record), hooliganism (almost 9% of all nominated candidates with a criminal record) .
More than half of those nominated with a criminal record (62%) indicated in their questionnaires that the criminal record was expunged, another 17% indicated that the criminal record was expunged (this could be, for example, due to an amnesty, pardon or expungement by the court upon petition), and every fifth did not indicate whether it was whether the criminal record has been expunged or expunged.
Five nominated candidates were previously convicted under Art. 141 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and 142 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights or the work of election commissions and falsification of election documents, referendum documents). The election commissions refused to register three of them, and two - Irina Shasheva from United Russia and Asadul Ibragimov, who nominated himself - were allowed to participate in the elections.
There are also more rare articles: among those running for deputies of the regional council of the Ivanovo region is a pensioner convicted of theft “from clothes, a bag or other carry-on luggage” (the conviction has been expunged). Several other candidates for municipal representative bodies were tried under the same article. A person who had an expunged conviction for hostage-taking was registered as a candidate for the legislative assembly of the Ulyanovsk region.
At the same time, among those nominated for deputies there are also those who have more than one conviction for similar crimes - for example, theft, beatings or drug possession. 33-year-old unemployed Rustam Nuriakhmetov, who is running from the LDPR as a deputy of the Rybno-Slobodsky urban settlement in Tatarstan, has nine convictions expunged - he was accused of robbery, theft and several times of fraud. In the Kemerovo region, a representative of the LDPR, convicted of two thefts, two robberies and causing moderate bodily harm, was registered as a candidate for member of the Council of People's Deputies of the Prokopyevsky Municipal District.
Most convicted parties
The highest percentage of people with convictions is among self-nominated candidates - 4.6%. Among the parties (only those that nominated more than 100 people for elections in the regions were analyzed), the Communist Party of the Russian Federation turned out to be the leader - 3.5% of the people nominated as communists were convicted. Party press secretary Alexander Yushchenko, in a conversation with RBC, expressed the opinion that this is a low percentage. “In the 1990s, there were different situations where we had to defend our good name, including with our fists. You never know what happened there when people were 17 years old,” the communist emphasized. At the same time, he noted, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation conducts checks on its candidates and, if they identify criminal records that are not comparable with the nomination of deputies at various levels for elections, withdraws their candidacies.
Yabloko is in second place: among the nominated candidates from this party, 3.4% were convicted. Yabloko press secretary Igor Yakovlev told RBC that regional branches of the party form the lists for the elections. The federal leadership of Yabloko recommends that candidates with a criminal record not be included in the lists, with the exception of convictions for political reasons. “There are no candidates with a criminal record on the lists registered for the elections, but they were on the list of the Trans-Baikal Territory, which was not registered,” explained a representative of the press service. “We will check why people with criminal records ended up in it, and if necessary, we will take organizational measures.”
The Rodina party came in third place with 3% of those convicted. Party head Alexei Zhuravlev did not answer RBC's calls.
In fourth place in terms of the percentage of convicted persons nominated as candidates is A Just Russia with 2.8%. (When RBC reported the number of candidates with a criminal record, including expunged and expunged, in the Moscow municipal elections last year, the largest number among them were Fair Russians - nine people.) “It is important to understand exactly what crimes we are talking about,” insists a member of the central council “ A Just Russia" Mikhail Emelyanov. “If a person 20 years ago became the culprit of an accident that led to serious bodily injury, should this be a reason for losing his rights?” In the Russian Federation, every third man was “familiarized with the Criminal Code,” the Socialist-Revolutionary recalled. “If a criminal record has been expunged, I don’t think that this should be a basis for non-nomination,” Emelyanov emphasized.
With the participation of: Elizaveta Antonova, Damir Yanaev, Evgeniy Tarasenko
Today, at a meeting of the State Duma in the second reading, a bill is to be considered, according to which candidates for elected positions will have to indicate their criminal records in all election documents. Amendments will be made to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Citizens’ Referendum.”
– First of all, we should start with the history of the adoption of this bill. Several years ago, we made changes to the legislation and wrote that persons who have ever been convicted of serious and especially serious acts (banditry, for example, or murder) will never be able to run for deputies at any level - from the village council to the State Duma.
Then one citizen turned to the Constitutional Court (CC) and said: “Wait, but we cannot be deprived of this right for life. What does our Constitution say? It says that people in prison cannot run for office.” The Constitutional Court considered the issue and said: “For life – it’s impossible. Therefore, gentlemen, deputies, set a deadline.” Then the State Duma met, considered the bill in the first reading and said: “Whoever was imprisoned for serious crimes, that is, more than 5 and no more than 10 years, after the removal of a criminal record, cannot run for deputy for 10 years. And those who were imprisoned for especially serious crimes – murderers and terrorists – cannot run for office for 15 years after the conviction is cleared.” And they decided that this norm would do. This bill was adopted in the fall in the first reading. The State Duma is currently preparing a second reading. Why is it important to emphasize the phrase “second reading”? Because according to the regulations, amendments can only be made in the interval between the first reading and the second.
However, United Russia member Vladimir Ponevezhsky introduced, according to lawyers, scientists and public figures, an anti-constitutional amendment. He proposed supplementing the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Referendums of Citizens of the Russian Federation” with the provision that any criminal record of the candidate, not even medium or grave, but small.
At a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, two deputy chairmen of the committee, Vadim Solovyov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Sergei Ivanov from the Liberal Democratic Party, told Ponevezhsky: “Wait, a whole number of acts have been decriminalized.” That is, the new Russian code does not contain such articles from the RSFSR code as, for example, speculation, private enterprise and commercial intermediation, usury, anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda. But in response to this, the committee deputies were told: “No, let the voters figure it out themselves.”
But this violates the Constitution and the Criminal Code! Article 86 of the Criminal Code says: “The expungement or removal of a criminal record eliminates all its legal consequences.” But they didn’t care about Article 86, just as they didn’t care about the Constitution. According to the State Duma's work plan today, many amendments are being considered for the second reading, including this amendment by Ponevezhsky. This is a classic technique - when society is busy with something more important, to smuggle in an “atomic bomb” on the sly. Since everyone is stuck in these 10-15 years, which are prohibited, and now they are no longer prohibited, they are trying to slowly push through this amendment.
But this bill is of a very large caliber. In particular, it amends the basic law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights...”, paragraph 58 of Article 2, and concerns elections at all levels, including the village council in the tundra. Moreover, almost half of our candidates usually have a criminal record. Our Criminal Code is structured in such a way that the court qualifies the same act in different regions of the country differently. But now, even if a person was given a suspended sentence, they will not write this. They will write that he was sentenced, for example, to 3 years under Article 209. And only a few will know that in the old, “shaggy” code of the RSFSR this is hooliganism.
I think that the election documents will contain the year, article and term without specifics. What are the hidden objectives of this bill? Who among us has small articles now? “Bolotnaya” prisoners who got into a fight with riot police and received a year of probation. Or, for example, Pussy Riot. They are getting involved in politics now, right? And what kind of article they have - go figure. And now it will be written “candidate such and such was convicted in such and such a year under article, say, 213 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for a period of 2 years.” Grandma will take the ballot and think: “Why am I going to vote for such people?” And in fact there will be no voting.
Since United Russia also has a majority in the State Duma, this bill will most likely be adopted, but it will be possible to argue about the wording later. For example, if there is no speculation in the new code, then it can no longer be mentioned. Or if someone is 70 years old and has been imprisoned for 20 years under the article “Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda,” then now they cannot run for office? Lyudmila Alekseeva, take it, she has so many articles on anti-Soviet propaganda. Now, if she wants, she won’t be able to run for elected office? According to human rights activists, this law is aimed exclusively at the opposition, which constantly gets into some kind of conflict and receives prison terms for it.
Those previously convicted may be eligible to be elected
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Sergei Ivanov (LDPR) prepared amendments to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights” (available to Izvestia). He proposes to exclude the clause expanding the list of citizens limited in the right to be elected, but at the same time oblige candidates to indicate the presence of even expunged criminal records on the ballot.
We are introducing a bill according to which absolutely everyone has the right to be elected, except for those who, as specified in the Constitution, are in prison or declared incompetent. But voters should know whether candidates have been convicted or not and, if so, under what article. Therefore, even if the criminal record is expunged, the ballot will still indicate that he was convicted under such and such an article,” the deputy said.
The Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights” introduces four additional categories of persons limited in passive electoral rights. These are those convicted of committing serious and especially serious crimes, convicted of committing extremist activities, persons subjected to administrative punishment for propaganda and public display of Nazi or extremist paraphernalia or symbols or for their production and distribution, as well as persons recognized by the court as having abused freedom of speech during the election campaign. agitation.
In October, the Constitutional Court of Russia already recognized as contrary to the Basic Law of the country the amendments imposing a lifelong ban on persons convicted of serious and especially serious crimes from running for office. According to Ivanov, this is not enough.
The Constitutional Court answers only those questions that are put to it. This means that you are asking - does this article comply with the Constitution? And he answers yes or no. If you don’t ask about the other one, he doesn’t touch her. And the amendments being introduced make it possible to solve the problem comprehensively, the parliamentarian is sure.
According to Ivanov’s colleague on the committee from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vadim Solovyov, “the amendments do not make a big revolution,” but they can be a good clarification if the articles are given with a transcript.
Simply listing articles does not give anything. It is necessary to indicate the transcript of the article and what the candidate was imprisoned for, for example, “for participating in the riots on Bolotnaya Square.” But just the title of the article will tell voters little,” the communist emphasized.
First Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Alexander Ageev, is against making the indication of criminal record mandatory.
It happens that a man at the age of 20 defended a girl and was convicted because of this. So why should he point this out at 55 years old? I am against being banned for life from being elected, but I am also against having a criminal record indicated. In my opinion, it is quite reasonable to limit the possibility of being elected for 10-15 years for those previously convicted, while providing exceptions, for example, for those pardoned by the president or those released under an amnesty. Here it is important to find a middle ground in order, on the one hand, to avoid the criminalization of power, and on the other, not to violate the constitutional rights of citizens,” Ageev argues.
According to Rafael Mardanshin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Civil and Criminal Legislation, the time barrier best reveals the inclinations of those previously convicted of crimes.
For persons who have committed crimes, including those who have served their sentences, a barrier must exist. At least after this period it will be clear whether the person is prone to relapse or not. Time will tell whether the person has corrected himself or not. If you simply indicate the presence of a criminal record on the ballot, then by using financial and other means, a candidate even convicted, for example, of violent crimes, can get into power. And if he is prone to relapse, then this will manifest itself, and it is much more difficult to fight a person vested with authority,” warns Mardanshin.
Currently, according to the law “On the Election of State Duma Deputies” adopted in the spring, the ban on people with a criminal record from being elected applies to parliamentarians. The proposal to expand the list of positions that those convicted of serious and especially serious crimes will not be able to occupy for life was found by the Constitutional Court to be contrary to the Basic Law of the country. However, only the provision on lifelong deprivation of passive suffrage was recognized as unconstitutional. This was interpreted as an acknowledgment of the possibility of imposing a temporary ban on participation in elections.
Maybe I don’t understand something, but why are there so many deputies with convictions in our power or striving for power? I came from the elections out of 11 candidates, two with, although expunged, criminal records. Moreover, the articles are serious, what kind of trend is this or do our parties not have the opportunity to elect a person with a clean reputation? Is this done on purpose?
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238 comments
If a deputy has no criminal record, that means he is even more cunning than the one who was imprisoned))
It’s just that before you join the mafia you must prove your loyalty and professional suitability.
Bayan is EXACTLY two years old) what kind of elections were there 720 days ago?)
Konstantin Podsukonnykh! My criminal record has been expunged!
It seems to be the same scheme.
Pushed opium for the people?
These bitches even called on the phone at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
From this district just myself.
Prove that he is a victim?
what did he wear? boots?
It’s just that those in power now are mostly the ones left behind from the nineties. So they pull the “lads” to the feeding trough.
It’s a shame you don’t read history books.
This was the case even in tsarist times - those who were smeared in mud up to their necks and had grown a whole beard of incriminating evidence were more willingly appointed to high-ranking positions. If something like this happens, grab that beard and he’s obedient and will do whatever you order.
But if you put an honest person without sin, he will not live according to the laws of the authorities; he will think of bringing benefit to the people, and not to those superior.
What is important for the king? Obedient retinue. She may be corrupt and cynical, but she is manageable. But a good person in power is dangerous, because he will find the dirt of a barn in the royal penates.
Autocracy has always been like this.
Do you really think we want these laws to be enforced? - Dr. Ferris began. - We want them to be violated. You'd better remember: you're not dealing with a group of Boy Scouts, and the time for nice gestures is over. The power is behind us, and we know it. Your friends are good boys, but we know the true state of things, and you should be smarter. It is extremely difficult to control innocent people. The only power the government has is the power to break the criminal element. Well, if there are not enough criminals, you need to create them. So many laws are adopted that it is impossible for a person to exist without breaking them. Who needs a nation consisting entirely of law-abiding citizens? What's the use of it? But make laws that can neither be observed, nor enforced, nor objectively interpreted, and you will get a nation of violators, which means you can make money from crimes.
Clearing a criminal record will not free you from restrictions on rights // Deputies will remove contradictions between the Criminal Code and federal laws
United Russia deputies have prepared draft amendments to the Criminal Code (CC). According to these amendments, the expungement of a criminal record will not free citizens from all consequences, but only from those specified in the Criminal Code. Now, election candidates with an expunged or expunged criminal record will not be able to challenge the refusal to register, citing contradictions in the law, RBC reports.
The bill proposes the following version of paragraph 6 of Article 86 of the Criminal Code: “The expungement or removal of a criminal record cancels all legal consequences provided for by this code related to a criminal record.” Such an amendment will remove existing contradictions in the legislation, deputies believe. In some cases, it is not clear what to follow: the Criminal Code, which removes all consequences of a criminal record, or federal laws that introduce additional restrictions for those with a criminal record. For example, citizens with a cleared or expunged criminal record cannot serve in the army, run for parliament, or obtain the status of a judge.
Last year, the Constitutional Court (CC) twice upheld the ban on access to certain types of activities for persons with a previous criminal record. One of the prohibitions concerned the right to be elected for persons who have ever been convicted of committing a serious or especially serious crime (for more details, see here). However, then the Constitutional Court noted that such a ban cannot be automatic for all convicted persons and must be limited in time. The terms of restrictions on passive voting rights must be correlated with the terms of a criminal record, the judges said. In another decision, the Constitutional Court supported the ban on the right to engage in teaching activities for persons who had or have a criminal record for committing serious, especially serious crimes and crimes of a sexual nature (for more details, see here).
The authors of the amendments also plan to introduce into the Criminal Code all the restrictions that are introduced by federal laws on the issue of criminal records. People are not required to study all the legislation in order to understand exactly what consequences an expunged or expunged criminal record will have for them, deputies believe.
Is it possible to become a deputy if you have a criminal record?
Candidates for elected positions are required to indicate the fact of a criminal record, even if their case was closed under an amnesty, but may not remember this if the relevant composition is no longer considered a crime, the Constitutional Court explained. This is stated in two rulings on the complaints of Dmitry Babich and Alexander Barsukov, published on Tuesday on the court’s website. Both were denied registration for municipal elections due to the fact that they forgot to mention their criminal record: Babich in 1997 received six months of correctional labor for defrauding consumers (the article is no longer in effect), and Barsukov in 2000 was convicted of violating traffic rules movements. Both believed that they should not have indicated a criminal record: Babich had it expunged long ago and, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 86 of the Criminal Code, he is considered unconvicted, and Barsukov was amnestied.
The Constitutional Court did not agree with Barsukov’s arguments. For the purposes of election legislation, the very fact that a candidate has committed a crime is important, since this affects voters’ assessment of the candidate’s personality, the judges believe. In the Babich case, the situation is different: previously, the Constitutional Court had already partially invalidated restrictions on teaching activities for those who were convicted under subsequently decriminalized charges, since those previously subjected to criminal prosecution would have found themselves in unequal conditions with those who suffered only administrative liability. But a forgotten criminal record was not the only basis for denying Babich registration, so the question of the possibility of his participation in the elections remains within the competence of the court of general jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court believes.
Judge Sergei Knyazev, who issued a dissenting opinion, disagrees with the position of his colleagues regarding Barsukov’s complaint. He does not question the right of voters to get acquainted with the details of the biography of candidates, but the legislator prescribed such a requirement very vaguely, the judge believes, hence the mutually exclusive interpretations (the Central Election Commission does not count a criminal record if the amnesty act is applied before the verdict comes into force, but the Supreme Court does) and contradictory law enforcement practice. “As long as such a requirement is not clearly and unambiguously reflected either in the contested or in other articles of the federal law, presentation to persons considered according to Art. 86 of the Criminal Code are unconvicted, claims regarding the silence about the relevant facts are not based on the law, and therefore cannot be considered as consistent with the constitutional principles of the rule of law,” Knyazev insists.
Concealing information about a criminal record has become a fairly common reason for refusal of registration in recent years: according to the Central Election Commission, in 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs identified 240 candidates from 28 parties who provided false information about their criminal record. All parties had problems, confirms the head of the legal service of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vadim Solovyov: the requirement to indicate a criminal record does not raise objections, conflicts arose due to the lack of clear and unambiguous rules. For example, State Duma deputy Pavel Dorokhin last year was nominated for governor of the Tyumen region from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, but was refused registration: in 2000, he was convicted of illegal possession of weapons and received an amnesty, so he quite sincerely considered himself unconvicted, Soloviev recalls.
This is interesting:
- Federal Law of June 13, 1996 N 64-FZ "On the entry into force of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" (with amendments and additions) Federal Law of June 13, 1996 N 64-FZ "On the entry into force of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" With changes and additions from: 27 […] Laws of Business If you know the laws of business, then your activity will flourish. Business is a human activity like any other - painting pictures, playing sports, working for a company. And like any other activity, it also has its own specific laws [...] LIST OF SOURCES AND LITERATURE USED 1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (taking into account the amendments made by the Laws of the Russian Federation on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation dated December 30, 2008 No. 6-FKZ, dated December 30. 2008 No. 7-FKZ). 2. Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Part One) dated July 31, 1998 No. 146-FZ (as amended from […]
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