A broad amnesty covering over a quarter of Russia’s prisoners is being proposed to President Vladimir Putin by the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council, according to a report in Russian newspaper Kommersant today.

The new amnesty would cover a number of prominent political prisoners such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Bolotnaya case defendants. The amnesty is timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution.

The amnesty draft was prepared by Tamara Morshchakova and Andrei Babushkin, chairs of two of the Council’s specialised committees.

Mikhail Fedotov, the head of the Presidential Human Rights Council, said that the amnesty would be applied to ‘non-violent offenders’:

“The amnesty applies to all, but to varying degrees: some will be released from prison, some will have their sentences reduced, and some will have their disciplinary penalties cancelled.”

Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov said: “What is being proposed will be thoroughly studied by the President’s office”.