On Monday, December 16, Russian Investigative Committee reported that investigators had finished a criminal probe into Russia’s ex-Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

      Despite suppositions that Serdyukov would be accused of a more serious crime following the investigation, business daily Kommersant reported that he remains charged with negligence for allegedly costing the state 56 million rubles ($1.7 million) by ordering soldiers to build a private road to a Caspian Sea holiday resort owned by his brother-in-law. Negligence carries a maximum punishment of three months in prison under Russian law.

      The ex-defense minister, who was fired by Russian President last November amid allegations of high-level corruption, may get a reprieve under a proposed amnesty for convicts and defendants that is currently under consideration by the state parliament. President Putin proposed the bill to grant amnesty to tens of thousands of convicted criminals as a gesture of goodwill to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Constitution.