The Nizhny Novgorod District Court of Nizhny Novgorod on Wednesday sentenced the former head of the Republic of Mari El Leonid Markelov to 13 years in prison with a fine of 235 million 280 thousand rubles. This was reported on February 24 by the Izvestia correspondent.
Markelov was accused of taking bribes, abuse of office and illegal possession of ammunition. The prosecution requested 17 years in prison; the former head did not admit his guilt.
Markelov will serve his sentence by a court decision in a strict regime colony. In time, he will be credited with being in custody from April 13, 2017.
Markelov’s defenders plan to appeal the verdict.
He was detained in April 2017, and in the same month, by decree of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he was relieved of his post.
In November 2019, the district court of Nizhny Novgorod turned the property of Markelov and his wife into state revenue for a total of about 2.2 billion rubles.
According to the investigation, Markelov received a bribe in the amount of more than 235 million rubles from the founder of the Akashevskaya OJSC factory, Nikolai Krivash, through his confidant Natalya Kozhanov.
In turn, the ex-minister of agriculture of the republic Iraida Dolgusheva provided false information from the republic’s department in the interests of Krivash, which allowed Markelov to receive a bribe. The businessman has disappeared and is on the wanted list.
Kozhanova received eight years in prison and a fine, Dolgusheva was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.