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A man sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and cannibalism in 2010 has been pardoned by President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian media. A publication that sparked a timid debate in Russia about the merits of this policy.
Published on November 22nd, 2023 12:47 p.m. Updated on November 22nd, 2023 12:58 p.m
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference at the Kremlin on November 21, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. (ALEXANDER KASAKOV / AFP)
The Kremlin insists and signs. While the Russian press revealed the release of a man convicted of satanic and cannibalistic murders, he announced on Wednesday, November 22, that he would stick to his policy of presidential pardons for prisoners who agreed to be in Ukraine to fight. According to the news portal 76.ru, Nikolai Ogolobiak, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010, was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin and returned home in early November after six months at the front.
This pardon and the pardons of other convicts, including one of the accomplices in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, sparked a timid debate in Russia about the merits of this policy. In other cases, relatives of victims have denounced this measure, particularly because certain families were not informed of these releases. However, the Kremlin, asked again on the issue on Wednesday, does not expect any change.
Tens of thousands of Russian prisoners have joined the front in Ukraine
“The question is not new, it has been raised several times, and at the moment everyone is looking closely at these lists of those who have been pardoned,” noted Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin. “But I repeat, these are conditions [de grâce] precise, associated with a presence at the front, a certain duration at the front, participation in attack groups, and after that there is grace,” he explained, adding that there is “no review” of this policy.
Tens of thousands of Russian prisoners have joined the front in Ukraine, mostly under contracts with paramilitary groups such as the Wagner Group. If they survive the six-month battle, they will be eligible for a pardon. These men often served in the most dangerous areas of the front and, as Wagner’s late boss Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted, were used as cannon fodder.