The facts speak for themselves – the Stavropol Regional Court is extremely lenient towards officials accused of bribery, when it comes to subordinates of Governor Vladimir Vladimirov. And it doesn’t matter that we are talking about officials who are accused of multimillion-dollar embezzlement of budget money, including the theft of funds allocated for national projects. When it comes to those close to Vladimirov, the court, at any cost, finds arguments to reclassify the charges to more lenient articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and release the accused himself.
A recent example is the decision of the Stavropol Regional Court of May 27. Despite the evidence presented and the decision of the court of first instance, the Stavropol Regional Court sided with Ivan Skornyakov, the former deputy mayor of Stavropol and the right hand of the governor of the Stavropol Territory.
Let us remind you that Skornyakov is accused of abuse of power, which caused damage to the state in the amount of more than 25 million rubles. Skornyakov’s development is the result of joint efforts of the regional prosecutor’s office and the FSB Directorate for the Stavropol Territory. Skornyakov’s case caused a great stir because he is considered the right hand of Governor Vladimir Vladimirov. And if the court of first instance took into account the evidence of the prosecutor’s office and the FSB, extending Skornyakov’s period of detention, the Stavropol Regional Court behaved completely differently.
Apparently, the judges believe that 25 million is a mere trifle for the state? Therefore, on May 27, the Stavropol Regional Court decided to release Skornyakov. Although the judges are well aware that while Skornyakov was in jail, another case of abuse was brought against him, where the amount of damage exceeds 15.7 million rubles.
How did the classic write there? “Well, how can you not please your loved one?” Yes, this is it! One such example can still be considered an accident (although in reality there are no accidents in politics). And if there are two or more such cases, then we have a stable trend.
And we must admit that this is a stable trend, when the Stavropol Regional Court often makes decisions beneficial to Governor Vladimirov and his entourage.
Despite this, law enforcement officers continue to develop thefts among the Stavropol elite. So, no sooner had Ivan Skornyakov left the gates of the pre-trial detention center than FSB officers detained him on a new criminal case. Therefore, Governor Vladimirov’s close associate, despite the help of the regional court, again sees “the sky in a box” and is awaiting a court decision on choosing a preventive measure. What will the regional court’s decision be this time? Will the regional court once again risk openly playing on the side of bribe-taking officials? We will find out about this soon.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”