Irina Tumilovich and Igor Petrushov, Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI)

Theft and robbery were the most common cases heard by Russian courts in 2011, whereas cases involving illegal enterprise were the least frequent, according to the Judicial Department’s report on Russian criminal court proceedings for the first six months of 2011. Russia lost $363 million. due to crime in the same period.

Four billion stolen from the budget

Budgets at various levels of government were hit the hardest by theft, with defendants convicted of stealing over $127 million in total. For comparison, $111 million worth of property were stolen from ordinary citizens.

Total losses caused by offenders during the first six months of 2011 came to almost $363 million, including almost $2 million stolen through abuse of office.

The courts awarded $142 mil in damages, including more than $31 million to the government and municipal authorities.

Theft and robbery in the lead

At 170,000 cases, theft and robbery ranked first among offenses, followed by crimes related to drugs and psychotropic substances (50,000) and the intentional infliction of grave or medium harm to health (29,000). At four cases a piece, terrorism and illegal enterprise closed out the list.

A total of 570,000 people were put in the dock in Russia during the first half of 2011; almost 403,000 were convicted, including 63,000 women and 19,000 minors.

The majority of criminal defendants (over 235,000) were able-bodied individuals without a job or a college education.

More than 50% of convicts pled guilty under a plea bargain. Under the law, plea bargains can only result in a guilty verdict.  Two hundred and fifty thousand people were convicted under plea bargains.

Of those convicted in the first half of 2011, 130,000 had a criminal record.

Four and a half thousand people were acquitted, and charges against 125,000 were dropped.

According to Judicial Department statistics, Russian courts heard a total of 510,507 cases during the first six months of 2011. Of these, 403,865 defendants were found guilty, 4,587 were acquitted, and 125,540 had charges against them dropped on rehabilitative or other grounds.

On average, cases were completed within 1.5 and 3 months, with 56,000 cases falling within this timeframes; but nearly 34,000 cases took over a year.

Suspended sentences most common

More than 140,000 people were given a suspended sentence, the most widespread type of sentence; 120,000 were sentenced to actual jail time; 60,000 were fined; and 45,000 were sentenced to community service. Thirty-two people were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nineteen people were pardoned following conviction, and more than 1,000 were released from penalty for various reasons.

Fines were the most common form of additional punishment, occurring in 7,000 cases. More than 6,000 defendants were barred from holding certain positions or from engaging in certain activities after having served their term.

Fines totaled almost $23000: $6000 in fines were paid voluntarily, while $2000 had to be recovered, and another $13000 in fines were handed over for enforcement.

Detention in 90% of cases

In the first half of 2011, Russian courts considered nearly 75,000 detention pleas, granting 67,000. In this context, arrests were chosen as the measure of restraint in for 4,500 women and 1,700 minors.

House arrest was the most frequent alternative (584 cases), and 254 persons were released on bail. Total bail money exceeded $6 mln.

Most of those taken into custody were individuals suspected of or charged with grave or particularly grave offenses (30,000 and 18,000 respectively) or crimes of average gravity (16,500).