The amnesty bill has been submitted to the State Duma, which will take a decision before the end of December. The amnesty is given to mark the Russian constitution’s 20th anniversary on Thursday.
On the list over people that can be given amnesty are also two jailed Pussy Riot protesters and seven opposition activists involved in the Bolotnaya demonstrations in May 2012, Izvestiya reports.
Greenpeace say they are not getting their hopes up of the reports in Russian media: “Media reports on amnesty are all speculation until confirmed by Russian Parliament”, the organization writes on its Twitter account.
According to The Moscow Times, all four State Duma factions said Tuesday that they would support the draft bill.
The 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists that were arrested after a demonstration against a Gazprom drilling platform in the Pechora Sea in September were all released on bail last month. They face up to seven years in prison.
Deputy Secretary of Russia’s Public Chamber Vladislav Grib says that through this amnesty the authorities show that they are ready to go into dialogue with the civil society:
“Through the Public Chamber and Council on Human Rights we have succeeded on achieving such a broad amnesty, and we are happy that the authorities have listened to us. This move will reduce tensions in society and show those who didn’t believe that the authorities were capable of taking such steps”, Grib said to Izvestiya.
