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Interior Ministry Advocates Severe Punishment for Bribes
Russia’s Interior Ministry suggests making more severe the punishment for taking bribes. Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin voiced the respective proposal during December 7 sitting of the cabinet dedicated to fighting corruption.
The matter at stake is introducing the sanction of no alternative for bureaucrats-bribetakers, i.e. their imprisonment under the Clause 290 of the Criminal Code. Nowadays, corrupt officials are often released before serving the whole sentence.
Another proposal of Interior Ministry is to add sanctions to the Administrative Code that would be in force for the petty officials, doctors and teachers, for instance. For them, the one-time bribe would lead to bigger amounts of penalties and dismissal or prohibition to proceed with activities.
Moreover, Interior Ministry also suggests establishing tough financial control over the property of bureaucrats and their families by amending the Act on Civil Service and conducting the so-called anti-corrupt expertise in respect of department’s acts and regulations.
In this context, the remark of Russia’s Premier Mikhail Fradkov is worth mentioning. “The battle against corruption should be transparent and open,” Fradkov said urging to consider respective issues before reporters.
In Russia, the corrupt practices are flourishing despite all efforts aimed at their prevention. Bribery, for instance, stepped up 12.8 percent on year in October to November. In the first half of this year, 1,024 persons were called to account for bribery. Of them, 116 were sentenced to imprisonment and 73 got conditional sentences.
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