Justice Ministry mulls sending corrupt individuals to front lines, but law needs to be amended

Corrupt individuals can be sent to the front, and the legislation on mobilization must be changed, Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

It is possible to start with citizens with a criminal record who have already been released from prison or have never been there, but according to the law cannot be mobilized and are not subject to military registration.

"This is the simplest and most obvious thing that needs to be corrected. There is no question of danger for people, they walk the streets, communicate with us. Why they don't join the army and fulfill their duty to defend the country, I don't understand. Moreover, many of they want to do it," Maliuska said.

Wartime legislation was not ready for the realities of a full-scale invasion and needed adaptation, he stressed.

"It seems to me that the corrupt can be safely sent to fight. They are often patriots, it's just that patriotism is peculiar and they are avaricious. Well, not only avaricious, but let's be honest," said the minister.

Corruption has been cultivated to varying degrees in Ukraine for decades, he argues.

"We had a poll where the majority admitted that they had given bribes in the form of gifts or money to doctors, teachers, and patrol officers. Well, that is, this phenomenon was mega-widespread. Of course, it should be eradicated, but I don't understand why corrupt people can't be sent to war," the official concluded.

The Ministry of Justice wants to remove obstacles in the new mobilization bill so that those who have already served their sentences can be mobilized. The agency also wants the prisoners to be able to mobilize instead of serving their sentence: such people should be selected, after which the court would make a decision.

One of the proposed innovations of the mobilization bill is that convicted persons released from serving a probationary sentence can, if they wish, be called up for military service during mobilization.