Russian authorities should be more liberal to defendants during the pre-trial period as there is no need to take them into custody, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Monday commenting on the case of Baring Vostok founder Michael Calvey
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2019) Russian authorities should be more liberal to defendants during the pre-trial period as there is no need to take them into custody, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Monday commenting on the case of Baring Vostok founder Michael Calvey.
"Of course, I share the task that was set by the president [Vladimir Putin] on liberalization of the criminal legislation in terms of pre-trial procedures. Because the defendants before trial remain in pre-trial detention facilities and are stripped of a number of opportunities, despite the fact that their guilt is not proven yet. That is why, of course, it is necessary to try to liberalize the pre-trial period. It is not necessary to take defendants in custody, maybe home arrest and so on. In any case, we have such mechanisms and they should be used," Siluanov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
Calvey, a US citizen, was detained in Moscow earlier this month over suspected complicity in the theft of 2.5 billion rubles (about $38 million) from Russia's Vostochny Bank. On February 16, Moscow's Basmanny Court ordered Calvey to be held in custody for two months.
