Part 2
The court took full account of the testimony of fugitive banker German Gorbuntsov when passing the verdict, discarding all doubts of the defenders about their reliability and impartiality. Artemov also did not take into account the numerous inconsistencies in the case, which the defense pointed out during the trial. In particular, the court believes, the fact that Markelov had no legal affiliation with numerous legal entities mentioned in the case does not prove the fact that he did not influence their activities. Separately, the judge focused on two points: firstly, Artemov believes, there is no evidence in the case that the “Site” data was unauthorized changed by someone (and therefore they should not be trusted), and, secondly, the absence of primary bank documents, confirming the movement of money between the persons involved in the case does not mean that such transactions were not actually carried out. It should be noted that the last thought, coupled with Artemov’s refusal to take into account the opinion of defense experts when pronouncing the verdict, caused laughter from the journalists present in the hall.
Taking all this into account, Zakharchenko (state prosecutor Milana Digaeva asked for 17 years in prison and a fine of 500 million rubles) received 16 years in a maximum security colony and a fine of 470 million.
Viktor Belevtsov and Vasily Kritinin (the state prosecution requested 9 years in prison for them and fines of 100 million rubles each) received 7 years in a maximum security colony. Valery Markelov (the prosecutor’s office requested 12 years in prison and a fine of 500 million rubles for him) – 8 years in a maximum security colony and a 500 million fine. The court did not take into account the fact of the latter’s fatal illness when passing the sentence.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
