"A lot of pitfalls": 70 years ago, the Beriev amnesty was declared in the USSR

2023-03-27T09:37:22.865Z

On March 27, 1953, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on a mass amnesty in the Soviet Union. This document was officially signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces Kliment Voroshilov, but historians claim that in reality it was initiated by the Minister of Internal Affairs Lavrenty Beria, so in the scientific literature this amnesty is often called Beriev's. The decree provided for the release of all persons sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years, convicted of official, economic and certain war crimes, minors, pregnant women, mothers of young children and the terminally ill. The remaining categories of convicts significantly reduced the terms of imprisonment. Experts ambiguously assess the role of the Beriev amnesty. On the one hand, it became a harbinger of rehabilitation processes in the USSR, on the other hand, it led to a serious increase in the crime rate.