Relatives of drug policeman Stepanenko demand to release him

The solo picketers in Volgograd have announced the falsification of Pavel Stepanenko's case and demanded to enforce the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and release the drug policeman.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in May 2015 Pavel Stepanenko was found guilty of bribe extortion and sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 150 million roubles. This verdict was cancelled as unjustified; and the case was sent for reconsideration. On July 18, the prosecution requested 15 years in prison for Stepanenko. On August 22, the Traktorozavodskoy District Court of Volgograd having revised the verdict, sentencing him to 14.5 years in a high security colony.

Stepanenko's relatives have repeatedly held pickets demanding a fair trial on him. Thus, on August 9, his wife, father and mother held a protest action in Volgograd.

On October 8, Pavel's wife, mother, and father held four solo pickets, together with Margarita, the wife of another convicted drug policeman Alexander Kaverin. The pickets took place on the Heroes Alley on October 8 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"We went to pickets because we disagree with the sentence passed to Pavel Stepanenko by the Traktorozavodskoy Court," Tatiana, Pavel's wife, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, the ECtHR issued a decision on the illegality and groundlessness of keeping Stepanenko in custody, "but the district court ignored the ECtHR's decision."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 9, 2018 at 06:58 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.