Minister of Justice tells where mobilised prisoners will serve
28 May 2024 09:59
Ukrainian convicts who were mobilised with their consent will serve in the assault units of the Armed Forces. This was stated by the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denis Malyuska during a telethon, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
“For now, these will be assault units. These will be units that so far consist exclusively of people who have served their sentences. That is, these are monolithic units without mixing with other soldiers,”
– malyuska explained.
According to the minister, the convicts who have been mobilised are not yet taking part in hostilities. They are undergoing training.
At the same time, Mr Malyuska admitted that in the future the convicts could serve with ordinary soldiers.
It should be noted that more than 3,000 convicts have already applied for early release from serving their sentences to directly participate in the defence of Ukraine .
Mobilisation of convicts
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the draft law No. 11079-1 on the mobilisation of certain categories of convicts.
Prisoners who express a desire to be mobilised will be able to serve after a court decision and a military qualification examination. However, their sentence should not exceed three years .
One of the authors of the draft law, Olena Shulyak, said that the released criminals would serve in special units.
At the same time, not all prisoners will be able to join the Armed Forces. The exceptions are those who:
- Imprisoned for offences against the foundations of national security of Ukraine;
- Imprisoned for the intentional murder of two or more persons, or combined with rape;
- Imprisoned for sexual violence;
- Has a criminal conviction for committing criminal offences under Articles 152-1561, 258-2586, part four of Article 2861 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, unless such convictions have been cancelled or removed in accordance with the procedure established by law.
It should be noted that on 13 March, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 11079 on the conditional early release of convicts from serving their sentences for military service.
Kommersant Ukrainsky published an article about who can be released and sent to the frontline and who is not eligible for parole, the pros and cons of such an initiative, and whether paedophiles and murderers can really be released.
