An enlarged meeting of the board of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation was held today in St. Petersburg to discuss the outcomes of the first half of 2014.
The meeting chaired by Alexander Bastrykin was attended by members of the central office of the Russia’s Investigative Committee, the heads of the investigative units of RF subjects, Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko and Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko, chairmen of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Vyacheslav Makarov and Sergey Bebenin, Presidential Envoy to the North-West Federal District Vladimir Bulavin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Law Alexander Remezkov, Member of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Law Alexander Skorobogatko, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities Mikhail Starshinov and Chairman of the board of the regional public organization "Union of investigative bodies’ veterans" Vladimir Dontsov.
In his report, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee said that "... over the past period, the investigating bodies of the Investigative Committee have handled nearly 373 thousand reports of crimes and have initiated more than 60 thousand criminal cases. Investigations’ effectiveness has grown up by 6%. Investigations have been finished into 50 thousand criminal cases, most of which have been referred to courts".
As for anti-corruption efforts, Alexander Bastrykin gave the following data: "Within the reporting period, the Investigation Committee has received almost 20,000 reports of corruption, based on which more than 13 thousand criminal cases have been initiated. Investigations have been finished into almost 6 thousand criminal cases (5,802), which is 17% higher than previously achieved figures. 25 criminal cases against organized criminal groups have been referred to courts. In cases referred to courts, the amount of money paid by criminals to compensate for damages caused by corruption offenses has totaled 6 billion 728 million 384 thousand rubles".
"Work has been done to bring to justice those who have a special legal status. Within 5 months of this year the number of such defendants in corruption cases referred to courts has been 258 persons. Among them, there were two legislators of RF subjects; 178 deputies and elected heads of local governments; 5 prosecutors; 22 lawyers; 18 Russian Interior Ministry investigators; one Russian Federal Drug Control Agency investigator and one Russian Federal Security Agency investigator ", - said the Chairman of the Russian IC.
In conclusion of his speech, the Chairman of the Russian IC outlined the priorities to be addressed by the Investigative Committee in the second half of 2014. Among them, there were:
1 Consolidation of positive achievements in investigative activities avoiding any decrease in the intensity of work
2 Continuation of constructive cooperation with prosecuting bodies
3 Thoughtful decision-making on whether to remand the accused in custody or not, and the application of other measures of restraint
4 Careful and thorough work with citizens without runarounds, and regular reception hours for the public with consideration of the confidence of the citizens as a precondition for improving the effectiveness of investigative activities
5 Development of preliminary investigation management and procedural control with the rational use of available resources, with a clear separation of powers and areas of personal responsibility
6 Further attack on corruption through legal measures and good investigations’ results
Head of Media Relations V.Markin
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