Russia’s Justice Ministry has proposed to stop punishing officials implicated in bribery or other acts of corruption under “exceptional circumstances” in new draft legislation, following a plan set by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
Putin proposed the measure in an anti-corruption plan signed in July 2018 that called for legislation that would allow officials to escape prosecution for corruption under “exceptional circumstances.” Russia ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries, with Transparency International’s annual corruption perceptions index ranking it in 138th place this year out of 180 countries.
The amendments drafted by the Justice Ministry last week seek to exempt officials from legal accountability when corruption is unavoidable.
“In certain circumstances, complying with restrictions and bans... to prevent or settle conflicts of interests … is impossible for objective reasons,” the draft says.
The Justice Ministry does not provide examples of the “exceptional circumstances” that would allow officials to escape punishment. Russia’s Vedomosti business daily reported Monday that the ministry will provide specific examples of exemptions to anti-corruption laws after public discussions of the proposal wrap up on Feb. 8.
Ilya Shumanov, the deputy head of Transparency International Russia, told the publication that the amendments provide loopholes for officials to avoid responsibility.
“There’s not a single rational explanation for the use of exceptional circumstances when an official couldn’t declare a conflict of interest,” Vedomosti quoted Shumanov as saying.