Stavropol Territorial Court changes sentence for ecologist Sergey Legkobitov

In the Stavropol Territory, following the reconsideration of appeals, a court has changed the article under which ecologist Sergey Legkobitov was found guilty from attempted bribery to the transfer of a bribe, an advocate reports.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in May 2023, Sergey Legkobitov was detained in Pyatigorsk and accused of acting as an intermediary in bribery. According to the investigators’ version, the activist planned to transfer a bribe from an entrepreneur to an FSB officer to help the entrepreneur avoid being fined for an unsanctioned garbage dump in a specially protected natural area. The ecologist’s father called the criminal prosecution of his son a means of pressure due to his activities to protect Mount Mashuk from urban development. Sergey Legkobitov denied the charges in court.

The Stavropol Territorial Court has reconsidered the appeals lodged by the defence of Sergey Legkobitov, who was sentenced in April by the Pyatigorsk City Court to 7.5 years of imprisonment for acting as an intermediary in bribery.

“The court reclassified the charges to a more tough article, that is, not an attempt, but the direct transfer of a bribe,” reported lawyer Georgy Legkobitov, a father of the convicted man and his defender.

Earlier, Angelina, a wife of Sergey Legkobitov, has called the case against her husband being ordered by someone. Sergey Legkobitov has two minor children, and his youngest son was born after his detention.