Prosecutor's Office of Volgograd Region finds lenient verdicts to militiamen who have beaten teenagers inadmissible

The Prosecutor's Office of the Volgograd Region states the inadmissibility of the lenient verdicts passed by the Regional Court to former militiamen who had severely beaten teenagers.

In her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Lydia Sergeeva, Senior Assistant of the Public Prosecutor of the Volgograd Region, made comments on the decision passed on May 13 by the Judicial Board on Criminal Cases when considering the cassation on the criminal case against militiamen.

Ms Sergeeva told the essence of the case: "Kushmanov and Voplenko were found guilty of beating, without any reason, in July 2007, when they were in the execution of their official duties, three teenagers. They were beating boys with their fists, feet and rubber truncheon model PR-73, stabbing their bodies and heads," the Senior Assistant has noted.

"The court has sentenced Kushmanov to 3.5 years and Voplenko - to 3 years of deprivation of freedom with serving their terms at a general custody corrective colony," Lydia Sergeeva has informed.

In the opinion of the employees of the Prosecutor's Office, the punishment to the convicts should have been realistic and more severe. The opinion is justified by the fact that the crime accomplished by Kushmanov and Voplenko refers to the category of grave crimes, which envisages up to 10 years of imprisonment.

"However, the Judicial Board for Criminal Cases, despite special public resonance of the committed crime, its gravity, and in spite of the fact that the crime was committed against minors, has altered the verdict of the Regional Court, making the verdict still more lenient," Lydia Sergeeva has added.

According to her story, the Volgograd Regional Court has applied the provision of Article 72 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to Kushmanov and Voplenko; it means that the punishment appointed by the verdict is considered conditional with a trial period of 2 years.