Russian Democratic Party seeks to abolish punishment for ‘economic crimes’
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MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) – The Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) is seeking to repeal legislation that punishes people for so-called “economic crimes.”
The DPR board has instructed the party’s deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) to submit a legislative initiative to the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation to exclude a number of articles from the republic's Criminal Code.
The articles in question are primarily Article 88 on breaching the rules of currency transactions; Article 152 on producing substandard and incomplete products; Article 153 on private entrepreneurship and commercial mediation; and Article 154 on profiteering.
The DPR board said "tens of thousands potential entrepreneurs are in prison for so-called economic crimes and breaching the rules of currency transactions." In democratic states, such actions are not considered as crimes, the party said.
Keeping the aforementioned articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR places an insurmountable barrier on the road to a civilized market, it said.
The DPR board also decided to ask President Boris Yeltsin to grant an amnesty to people sentenced for such crimes before the Russian Criminal Code is amended.