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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: We have agreed to discuss improving Russia’s public justice, first and foremost in the context of pre-trial restraint measures applied by courts, including those that involve placement into custody, and those that do not.

Recently, a number of amendments have been made to the Criminal Procedure Code, establishing the possibility to more actively apply restraint methods such as posting bail. The number of pre-trial arrests of individuals suspected of economic crimes has been reduced by nearly one third. Still, there are some very different practices: often, individuals suspected in matters that are not common crimes are nevertheless detained, and this contradicts not only the new legislation, but the generally recognised development trends in law-governed nations as well. There are many complaints about unjustified imprisonment.

On the other hand, developing on this topic, we must see to it that individuals who committed grave offences understood that they would have no chance of getting away with it, and they must be subject to all restriction measures, including placement into custody. In this regard, judicial practice should not be subject to change.

Thus, I suggest that today, we discuss issues concerning economic crimes, as well as other crimes, and the practice of applying restraint measures in these kinds of criminal cases.

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