World
Russia may legalize the mobilization of those convicted of serious crimes
The Russian State Duma's Defense Committee has approved changes that allow citizens with outstanding or unexpired convictions of severe crimes to be mobilized for war. The decision was posted on the website of the State Duma on October 17. Mobilization of those convicted of serious crimes has been prohibited in Russia since 1997 when the Law "On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization in the Russian Federation" was adopted. This prohibition is fixed in part 4 of Article 17 of this law. The authors of the new initiative were the Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, former deputy head of the Ministry of Defense Sergey Shoigu, Andrei Kartapolov, and his first deputy Andrei Krasov. As expected, the changes will be discussed at the State Duma session on October 18.
