Tymoshenko prison staff goes on trial

The Dzerzhinsky District Court of Kharkov held the first hearing of a criminal case to try Kachanovskaya Prison personnel. Kachanovskaya is where former prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, served her term between 2011 and 2014, Ukrinform reports Friday. The agency reports that former chief of Kachanosvkaya Prison, Ihor Kolpashchikov, and two staff members were charged with abuse of power and fraud. Investigators allege that they drafted reports on Tymoshenko’s supposed refusal to attend a court hearing – specifically, a hearing of witnesses in the 1996 murder of businessman and member of Verkhovna Rada, Evhen Shcherban. The current indictment states that the reports were fabricated. On October 11, 2011, the Pechyorsky District Court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years for abuse of authority in signing gas contract between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom in 2009. On December 8, 2011, the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kiev issued an arrest warrant for Tymoshenko in relation to her activity as a chief of United Energy Systems of Ukraine. On February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament decriminalized the articles of the criminal code under which Tymoshenko was convicted and the ex-prime minister was released the same day.

http://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141128/272673509.html

Russia Jails Two Opposition Activists

A Russian court on Thursday jailed a radical opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov to four and a half years for organising "mass riots" ahead of Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president in 2012. Judge Alexander Zamashnyuk sentenced both Udaltsov and his political ally Leonid Razvozzhayev to four and a half years in a corrective labour camp for organising a rally against Putin and plotting further unrest. The judge said the men had organised "mass riots accompanied by violence against the authorities and damage to property." Udaltsov, the shaven leader of a banned radical leftist group, rose to prominence as part of the protest movement against Putin's return to the Kremlin for a third term. He responded to the verdict by declaring a hunger strike, his lawyer said after the verdict.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/24544778/russia-jails-radical-putin-foe-udaltsov-for-4-5-years/

Moscow Law School Head Arrested for Ordering Assassination

Ivan Alexandrov, 73, the Chancellor of the Moscow-based Institute for Management and Law, was arrested  on charges of ordering murder.  According to investigators, he promised to pay 2 mln rubles (some $70,000) for the assassination of a co-founder of the Institute. However, the would-be hitman appeared to be an undercover operative. After a aperiod of negotiations, the operative told Alexandrov that the order has been completed and received from him a portion of the fee (500,000 rubles), after which Alexandrov  was arrested. The Institute for Management and Law is accredited to issue official diplomas in law and in management.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2122554/

http://sledcom.ru/news/279905.html
http://www.nica.ru/dictionary/accr_reestr_vuz/view.php?eo=1&code=293 (document)

Russia Introduces Castration for Pedophiles

The Russian parliament has approved a law on pedophilia. According to it, people found guilty of sex crimes against children under the age of 14 will face chemical castration, while repeat offenders face a life sentence. Previous laws on sex crimes against juveniles were more lenient, with the toughest sentence being an 8-15-year prison term.

http://www.lenta.ru/news/2012/02/07/law/
http://rt.com/news/pedophilia-russia-chemical-castration-059/

Thailand to Extradite Viktor Bout to US

An appeals court in Bangkok, Thailand ordered the extradition of Viktor Bout to the United States within three months. Bout, an accused arms trafficker nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” was indicted by the United States for allegedly selling millions of dollars worth of weapons to Colombian guerilla group FARC. The Bangkok Criminal Court rejected a U.S. request for extradition in August of last year because it considered FARC to be a political movement and not a terrorist movement.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/a-big-break-for-us-in-case-of-viktor-bout/413397.html(Moscow Times 23 August 2010)