MOSCOW, December 13 (RAPSI) – Russia’s State Duma has approved in the third and final reading amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code aimed to protect the rights of those granted amnesty of capitals, the lower house of Russia’s Parliament informs on Friday.

The amendments envisage that the information contained in the special declarations, as well as the fact of submission thereof under the capital amnesty procedure are to be deemed inadmissible evidence as to any criminal probe; the special declarations are not to be sized in the framework of criminal investigations of economic crimes.

The only exception, the statement reads, is to be voluntary submission of special declarations, documents, and information by declarants themselves.

It is reminded that the capital amnesty program was introduced in 2015 and envisages a mechanism of voluntary declaration of assets, controlled foreign companies, and accounts with foreign banks. The participants of the program are guaranteed to be indemnified from administrative, tax, and criminal liability for tax crimes. The first stage of the capital amnesty took place in July 2015 through June 2016; the second stage – from March 2018 to February 2019. The third stage is to be in effect from June 2019 to February 2020.