Balabanov’s lenient sentence results from reclassification of charges

The charge against Mikhail Balabanov in a case on plotting a terror act in the Stavropol Territory was reclassified to a lighter charge, and therefore a court sentenced the defendant to half the term of imprisonment requested by a public prosecutor, an advocate reported. The defender has added that Mikhail Balabanov does not want to file an appeal against the verdict.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in Rostov-on-Don, a military court sentenced Mikhail Balabanov to 4.5 years of imprisonment for preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in the city of Nevinnomyssk. The public prosecutor requested the court to sentence the defendant to nine years of imprisonment. The investigator classified the actions of Mikhail Balabanov as preparation for a terror act. The defence pointed to evidence of provocation on the law enforcers’ part.

Advocate Vyacheslav Savin explained that according to the court’s verdict, Mikhail Balabanov is to serve his sentence in a high-security penal colony, with the first two years to be spent in prison. The defender states it is not yet known what mitigating and aggravating circumstances were taken into account by the court, since only the introductory and operative parts of the verdict were announced. “However, some conclusions can be drawn from what was announced. The charge was changed from the article on a terror act committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy to the article on a terror act,” the advocate noted.