The court upheld the verdict against the security forces in the Valko case.

The Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the sentence of police officers Yevgeny Samonov and Ivan Tatsenko, who beat security guard Fyodor Valko at a police station, human rights activists reported today.

As "Kavkazsky Knot" reported, the lenient sentence for the two police officers in the case of the beating of Kuban resident Fyodor Valko was appealed by the regional prosecutor's office, which demanded harsher punishment for the officers.

The Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the police officers' sentence. The court had previously sentenced Samonov to four years in prison and Tatsenko to 3.5 years, qualifying their actions as abuse of office with the use of violence (Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code).1. This was reported by human rights activists from the "Team Against Torture"*.

The prosecutor's office filed an appeal and asked that the police officers be found guilty under a more serious charge—the use of torture (Part 4 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code).2 and impose seven-year sentences in a maximum security colony. However, at the last minute, the state prosecutor dropped his demands and asked that the verdict be upheld, human rights activists report.

"The victim's representatives were surprised by the prosecutor's office representative's statement, who unexpectedly reversed his initial position during the court hearing. After receiving the reasoning, Fedor Valko's representatives intend to appeal to the cassation court. Lawyers believe the courts incorrectly classified the actions of the police officers," the human rights activists commented.

* are listed as foreign agents.