MOSCOW, September 24 (RAPSI) – The number of convicted persons serving sentence in Russia’s penitentiary facilities has decreased by 11,300 since the beginning of the year, the Supreme Court’s Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev has announced during the XVI meeting of the SCO Supreme Courts’ heads.

As of September 1, there were 471,490 inmates that is 11,342 less than the number of prisoners recorded at the start of 2021, he stated.

However, the criminal case dismissal statistics, about ¼ of all cases, held steady, according to Lebedev. 

In the first half 2021, Russian courts convicted 293,600 people (76%) and dropped prosecution of 87,200 persons (23%), he added.