The Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma proposing to expand the list of Criminal Code articles under which defendants and convicted persons may sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry during mobilization, martial law, and wartime. The outlet Verstka drew attention to the document.
Under the bill, the existence of an unexpunged or outstanding conviction for several offenses would no longer automatically prevent a person from signing such a contract. These include Article 200.1 on cash smuggling, several parts of Article 229.1 on drug smuggling, and Part 1 of Article 226.1 on the smuggling of strategically important goods.
The list also includes Part 2 of Article 209 on participation in a gang and Part 2 of Article 210 on participation in a criminal community, paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Article 215.4 on unlawful entry into a protected facility with intent to disclose state secrets, Part 1 of Article 221 on theft or extortion of nuclear materials, and Article 284 on the loss of documents containing state secrets.
The explanatory note says the bill is “aimed at expanding the range of persons” with whom a contract for service in the Russian army may be concluded.
As Verstka notes, current legislation already allows contracts to be signed with people who have criminal convictions or are under criminal prosecution for most categories of offenses.
At present, the exceptions include crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, as well as a number of terrorism-, extremism-, sabotage-, and state-related offenses, among some others.