Terms of an Amnesty for Prisoners in Soviet corrective-labour institutions [1].
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet
(27 June 1980)
1. The following, who are serving sentences of up to and including five years, shall be released from places of imprisonment:
a) all those who served in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945): in the Soviet Armed Forces; in partisan detachments; and in the people’s volunteer corps.
Also, all those who have seen military action in defence of the Soviet Motherland;
b) Group I and II invalids;
c) men aged over 60; women aged over 55;
d) women with children not yet seven years of age; also pregnant women.
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2. No further action is to be taken in investigations and cases which have not yet reached the courts at the time this Decree comes into force concerning: persons who, for the first time, are facing charges for minor criminal offences for which the law stipulates [1] sentences not exceeding two years deprivation of freedom or [2] punishments which do not entail deprivation of freedom.
Investigation should continue in cases concerning persons who have committed offences under any of the following Articles of the RSFSR Criminal Code : 115, pt. 1; 115-1; 142, pt. 1; 190-2; 191-1, pt. 1; 193, pt. 1; 207; 209, pt. 1; 218, pt. 2 (and under the corresponding Articles of the Criminal Codes in the other Republics of the USSR).
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3. The following shall be released from places of deprivation of freedom on condition that they shall be required to perform officially directed work, with the exception of those affected by the provisions of para. 1 of this Decree:
a) those serving sentences of up to three years inclusively;
b) those serving sentences of between three and five years inclusively who have already been deprived of their freedom for not less than one year.
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4. Persons qualifying in the categories described in para. 1 (above) shall be relieved the banishment or exile to which they have been sentenced as an additional punishment.
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5. The following do not qualify for amnesty:
a) those convicted
- of especially dangerous State crimes [2];
- those convicted of offences under Articles 14, 14-1, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 24 and 25 of the Law “On Responsibility for State Crimes” [3]; and
- those convicted under: para. ‘b’ of Article 2; paras ‘b’ and ‘c’ of Article 4; para. ‘a’ of Article 6; paras ‘a’ and ‘c’ of Article 11; para. ‘a’ of Article 13; para. ‘b’ of Article 15; para. ‘e’ of Article 19 and para. ‘c’ of Article 21 of the Law of the USSR “On Responsibility for Military Crimes”;
b) those convicted as particularly dangerous recidivists;
c) those convicted of the following offences:
- premeditated murder, with the exception of those convicted of murder occasioned by taking excessive measures to defend themselves or others (Article 102);
- premeditated grievous bodily harm (with the exception of those who inflicted such harm by taking excessive measures to defend themselves or others);
- attempted murder of a police-officer or a people’s auxiliary police-officer [druzhinnik];
- rape (Article 117);
- theft in aggravated circumstances;
- large-scale robbery;
- misappropriation of State or public property in especially large amounts;
- misappropriation of firearms, ammunition or explosives;
- receipt of bribes or acting as an intermediary for the purposes of bribery in aggravating circumstances;
- especially malicious hooliganism (Article 206);
- and also for offences under Articles 142; 190-1, 190-2, 190-3; 207, 209, 210, 213-2, 224, 224-1, 227 and 228 of the RSFSR Criminal Code [4] (and under the corresponding Articles of the Criminal Codes of the other Republics of the USSR).
d) those sentenced more than twice to deprivation of freedom for premeditated offences, and those previously sentenced to deprivation of freedom for offences mentioned in paragraphs a) and c) above;
e) those previously absolved of criminal responsibility and those whose punishment stipulated by a court has been reduced, either in part or in full, by amnesty or by reprieve, who have again committed a premeditated offence;
f) those who have maliciously violated the regulations while undergoing punishment.
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6. No person included in the categories described in paragraph 5 above shall be released under the provisions of paragraph 3 above. Release shall also be refused:
a) to those serving a sentence who have not yet completed their course of treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction or venereal disease;
b) to those who will have completed their sentence within six months;
c) to those who have been officially adjudged Group III invalids, and those who have not yet attained the age of majority;
d) to those who have committed offences while performing their military service, and to all those serving terms of punishment in colony-settlements;
e) foreign citizens and stateless persons.
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7. This Decree shall come into force on the date of its publication.
Moscow, 27 June 1980
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NOTES
- A partial Amnesty was offered during the 1980 Olympic Games, but explicitly excluded (see above and note 2, below) most prisoners convicted of political or religious offences.
Sergei Yermolayev, for example (CCE 54.12 [2]), was released under its terms; almost all other political or religious offenders were not eligible (see «Vesti» 31 August 1980 [R]). A similar distinction was maintained in earlier and later Amnesties, cf. CCE 29.11.
↩︎ - This refers to Articles 64-73 of the 1960 RSFSR Criminal Code, i.e., it includes Article 70, “Anti-Soviet Agitation & Propaganda” (and the related Article 72).
↩︎ - This refers to the General Part of the 1960 RSFSR Criminal Code: Chapter Three, “Crimes” (Articles 7-19); and Chapter Four, “Punishment” (Articles 20-36).
↩︎ - Articles concerning other religious and political offences.
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