The Ministry of Justice expects that the law on the mobilization of convicts will allow 10 000 to 20 000 people to join the army.
Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska said this in an interview with BBC News.
"Yes, 10-20 thousand. Exactly no more. But again, the question is in approaches. I say the numbers are completely uncalculated, because depending on each scenario, the number will be different," he noted.
The minister added that a lot depends on the military medical commissions.
"So we already had the experience of going through the military medical commissions (MMC) as prisoners. This is an approach where a person with perfect health should be in front of you. At least, they applied such an approach to our institutions. It should be simple, I donʼt know, ʼa two-meter-tall Aryan-blond with knowledge of three foreign languagesʼ. But it seems that the approach has now changed, now the Armed Forces are more determined to create fewer obstacles for mobilization," says Malyuska.
He also did not rule out the possibility of mobilizing those convicted of murder.
"But (convicted) for killing two or more, for example, if we take this category: why does a person go to war, if not to kill? Moreover, if we are talking about murderers, especially those sentenced to life imprisonment, these are, as a rule, people who committed the crime at a very young age, 18-19 years old. The brain is not yet formed, the psyche is unstable. And after dozens of years in prison, the psychological portrait of a person now has nothing to do with a person who killed at the age of 18-19. Any psychologist will confirm this," says the minister.
According to him, penitentiary institutions in Ukraine, including pretrial detention centers, are overcrowded.
"Thatʼs why itʼs a big problem. Last but not least, I am advocating for the mobilization of prisoners and convicts in order not to violate the regulations on the number of people on a certain area, says the minister.
- The Law on the Voluntary Mobilization of Convicts was adopted by the Council in the second reading on May 8. He proposes to allow prisoners to be released on parole for contract military service. Exceptions are those convicted of serious crimes (murder, rape, terrorism).