Penal Settlers
Penal Settlers
(Russian, ssyl’noposelentsy), in prerevolutionary Russia, persons sent by court sentence or administrative order to residence in remote localities for a fixed or indefinite term. Penal settlers were usually limited in their right of movement and choice of occupation; they were kept under police surveillance. Penal settlers are known from as early as the second half of the 16th century. Their legal status was formally defined in the Statute on Exiles of 1822 and Code on Punishments of 1845. Laws of 1878 and 1881 gave administrative exiles a status equivalent for all practical purposes to that of penal settlers. Both criminal offenders and revolutionaries were included among the penal settlers.