MOSCOW, October 13 (RAPSI) — The Government Commission on Legislative Activities has approved an initiative granting the status of a participant in military activities to prosecutors who served in the areas of counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia (ALR) Vladimir Gruzdev informs RAPSI.

The draft bill gives the status of a veteran of military operations to the employees of the prosecutor’s office who performed their duties during the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, as well as in the zones of counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus, Gruzdev said.

He noted that the activities of prosecutors and investigators of prosecutor's offices in the zones of operations aimed at restoring Constitutional order and the fight against terrorism did not differ from the activities of investigators and interrogators of other law enforcement agencies.

Nevertheless, currently only military prosecutors and investigators have the status of a participant in military activities within the system of the prosecutor’s offices and the Investigative Committee, according to the ALR Chairman.

As per the data available to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee, the number of citizens who, if the law is passed, will receive the status of participants in military activities, exceeds 1,300 persons.

War veterans receive a number of benefits, including compensation for 50 percent of the cost of housing and communal services. In addition, family members of prosecutors and investigators, who died in action, will be eligible for serious measures of social support, Gruzdev added.