Gerashchenko predicts the abolition of “Savchenko law” already in February

Verkhovna Rada may eliminate the so-called “Savchenko law” in February.

As reported by Anton Gerashchenko, the people’s deputy of the People’s Front political party, during the 112 Ukraine TV channel broadcast on Sunday.

He stated, that “frauds and corrupt officials” were released pre-term under the “Savchenko law”.

“Mistakes were made and we need to correct these mistakes and in February this law will be eliminated”, – said Gerashchenko.

As a reminder, the president Petro Poroshenko has approved the “Savchenko law” on December 23, 2015. He, in particular, provides for the admission of one day of pre-trial detention for two days of imprisonment.

In June 2016, Arsen Avakov, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and Pavlo Petrenko, the Minister of Justice, have offered for the parliament to make amends to the law in the terms of its application in regard to repeated offenders and those convicted for serious crimes. They stated about a significant number of repeated relapse into crime among the released offenders.

The human rights organization Donetsk Memorial reported to the Human Rights Information Centre that the initiative of the authorities to make amends to the said law is a threat to basic principles of human rights. Firstly, the initiative introduces discrimination on grounds of the crime. Also, the organization emphasizes that the crime rate generally depends on the socio-economic situation in the country and on the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, and does not depend on the number of former prisoners at liberty. When the total impoverishment of society is growing the number of citizens who dare to break the law is also growing. In addition, crime rate is also growing when the police, under the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, cannot catch the criminals.

On September 15, Vadym Troyan, the acting Chief of the National Police of Ukraine, stated that 34 thousand prisoners to be released in 2016 in accordance to the law “On improvement of the procedure of considering pretrial detention as a detention sentence,” or so-called “Savchenko’s law”.

On November 15, 2016, the Verkhovna Rada refused to make amendments to the law on counting 1 day of pre-trial detention as 2 days to the term of main sentence (“Savchenko law”), according to which norms of the law will not apply to those convicted of serious and very serious crimes.

The judge Ihor Zvarych and Viktor Lozynsky, former people’s deputy of the Fatherland political party, were released pre-term in accordance to the “Savchenko law”.