Defence of suspect of killing Politkovskaya appeals against verdict

Today, the defence of the figurant in the murder case of the journalist of "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya has appealed against the sentence of the Moscow City Court (MCC) against Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who received 11 years of colony, said Karen Nersisyan, the lawyer of the convict.

On December 14, the MCC found Pavlyuchenkov guilty of murdering Anna Politkovskaya and sentenced him to 11 years in a high security colony. Earlier, the state prosecution insisted on 12 years of his imprisonment.

Today, Karen Nersisyan has filed a brief cassation complaint to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and then he intends to submit a supplement thereto.

"I've appealed against the sentence as illegal and unjust. My client has fulfilled all the conditions of the pre-trial agreement; and I believe that the court had a chance to appoint a punishment below the bottom threshold, on which we have insisted in court and continue insisting," Mr Nersisyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The lawyer will seek a conditional term for Pavlyuchenkov, "because thanks to the information that he opened to the investigation, inspectors managed to open many resonant ordered murders."