Advocates and relatives of persons convicted for attempted terror act in Rostov to appeal against verdict

Verdict to three residents of Rostov-on-Don, accused of the attempted terror act in 2010, is unreasonable and unfair. This was stated by relatives and advocates of the convicted persons. They intend to appeal against the court's decision.

On April 23, 2010, in Rostov-on-Don, an improvised explosive device (IED) was found and defused near the building of the migration service. On April 30, 2010, three local residents Dmitry Fedorushkin, Alexander Svetlitsky, and Pavel Efremov were detained. Today, the panel of judges of the Rostov Regional Court found all three defendants guilty.

Dmitry Fedorushkin was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment in high-security colony; Pavel Efremov was sentenced to 15 years and 6 months of imprisonment, and Alexander Svetlitsky to 10 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

The court's verdict was unreasonable, since it failed to take into account the testimony, according to which Pavel Efremov was not aware that Alexander Svetlitsky had an IED. This was stated by Alexander Shilov, the advocate of Pavel Efremov.

Alexander Shilov believes that, when bringing a bomb with him, Alexander Svetlitsky just wanted to emphasize its social importance.

Lyubov Fedorushkina, the mother of Dmitry Fedorushkin, has stated that relatives also intend to challenge the court's verdict. "The FSB has 'contrived' a high-resonance case from an act of hooliganism committed by Alexander Svetlitsky," Lyubov Fedorushkina said.