Ex-combat engineer convicted for negligent examination of hippodrome in Nalchik on May 1, 2010

In Kabardino-Balkaria, Andrei Prokopov, ex-Senior Combat Engineer of the Engineering and Technical Department of the Special Police Squad of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), was found guilty of negligence when examining the hippodrome in Nalchik and sentenced to 2.5 years of conditional imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that on May 1, 2010, in the hippodrome territory, an explosion occurred during horse-racing festival. As a result of the explosion, which was recognized to be a terror act, 37 persons got injuries of varying severity, and Saidin Shebzukhov, a 104-year-old veteran of the World War II, was killed.

The investigators managed to prove in court that Andrei Prokopov poorly organized and examined the premises and the territory of the hippodrome and that he failed to examine all possible places, where explosive devices could be planted.

"The guilt of Andrei Prokopov has been confirmed by totality of evidence, in particular, by examination of the crime scene, investigatory experiment, testimonies of witnesses, verification of witnesses' testimonies in the place, requested documents, and expert opinion," reports today the official website of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

The justification of the verdict lists obtained evidences. The court sentenced Andrei Prokopov to 2.5 years of conditional imprisonment and deprived him of the right to hold positions in the MIA for three years.