MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a law depriving the Federal Security Service (FSB) of its pretrial detention centers, the Kremlin press service said Monday.
The law follows up on a presidential decree making FSB detention centers part of the country's penitentiary system, administered by the Justice Ministry.
"The law now prohibits the use of these detention centers for holding individuals accused or suspected of committing crimes whose investigation falls within the purview of FSB agencies," lawmaker Issa Kostoyev said after the Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, approved amendments to the law in early April.
The move is designed to ensure the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of suspects and prisoners in line with recommendations from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The FSB has several detention centers in Russia, including the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow.
Justice Minister Yury Chaika last year told Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles of the impending change.
"Russia will thereby fulfill one of the obligations that it assumed before joining the Council of Europe in 1996," he said.
