Rostov journalist Alexander Tolmachov appealed against his conviction

Alexander Tolmachov, who was sentenced by the Kuschevskaya District Court to nine years in a high security colony, has lodged an appeal complaint to the Krasnodar Territorial Court. Another appeal was also lodged by one of his advocates – Eduard Uskov. Other advocates are also preparing their complaints, Alexandra Izucheeva, Tolmachov's public defender, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to her story, the sentence should be repealed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2011, Alexander Tolmachov was taken in custody and charged with extortion. On October 29, 2014, the journalist was sentenced to nine years in a high-security penal colony. Alexander Tolmachov himself pleads not guilty.

"The very event of the crime is absent. The civil-legal disputes that had arisen between the defendant and the victims are outside the criminal sphere at all – they should be considered in the order of civil proceedings," said Izucheeva.

Members of the journalistic community treat the sentence as unduly harsh. "The verdict is ugly. You can't try a person, only because he is disliked by everybody; people are not convicted for that. I strongly protest against this verdict. However unpleasant a person is, he can only be judged for what he had actually done. But it was not done, and it was not duly considered," Alexei Simonov, the President of the Glasnost Defence Foundation, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.