The creation of jobs on the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) for convicted citizens will allow them to be released early from places of imprisonment.
“The current legislation provides for the possibility of transferring convicts to imprisonment for a milder form of punishment in the form of forced labor, which began to be applied in 2017,” said in a conversation with TASS on April 29, the head of the Department for the organization of the execution of punishments not related to isolation of convicts from society Elena Korobkova.
According to her, citizens serving sentences in correctional centers are most often convicts who have proved by their good behavior the fact of their correction while in prison. They get the opportunity to return to society and continue to serve their sentences outside of prison.
Korobkova added that forced labor is most often served in the region where the convict lived before being taken into custody. So, in correctional centers, they are provided with housing, work and wages, which allows them to pay off claims.
“It should be noted that in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, through whose territories the route of the Baikal-Amur Mainline passes, today, more than 11 thousand people serving sentences of imprisonment have come to a possible time for going to court with an application to replace the unserved part of freedom by forced labor, ”said Elena Korobkova.
She also clarified that such employment in the future can help convicts find work. However, there are also cases when those sentenced to forced labor, after serving their sentence, remain to work in the same organization.
“Convicts from places of imprisonment seek to get to correctional centers, they are ready to work at any facilities and enterprises in order to receive salaries, help families, settle claims,” the FSIN representative said.
According to her, the involvement of convicts in work will make it possible to compensate for the shortage of labor resources required on an ongoing basis in the construction industry in almost all regions of the country.