Judge Krivoruchko received threats over Ustinov conviction- defense lawyer
MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - The extremist suspect charged with threatening a judge, is accused of threatening not a Moscow City Court judge but Alexei Krivoruchko of Tverskoi district court, who convicted the actor Pavel Ustinov in the protests case, lawyer Grigory Chervonny told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Yes, we are talking about judge Krivoruchko. The threats are related to the conviction of Pavel Ustinov," Chervonny said.
Moscow's Tverskoi District Court ruled on September 16 to sentence Ustinov, 24, to three years and six months in a general-security penitentiary for using violence on a riot police taskforce member during demonstrations in central Moscow on August 3. In the process of discussions, the prosecutor asked to sentence Ustinov to six years in prison.
On September 30, the Moscow City Court changed the definition of the crime for which Ustinov was liable to less grave one before giving him one year in a suspended sentence. However, Ustinov's defense team continues seeking his acquittal and the guilty verdict's cancellation, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said.
The Ustinov case raised significant interest from the public. A civic campaign was launched in the actor's support.
On Nov 11, Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko told Interfax that two Russian citizens are under investigation over calls for extremism and threats to kill a Moscow City Court judge.
"The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened criminal cases into public calls in favor of extremist activities published on the Internet, and also threats to murder and cause harm to the health of a Moscow City Court judge," Petrenko said.
The information available indicates that Alexei Veresov, born in 1973, who has a previous criminal record, was accused of "calling for extremist activity," whilst accusations of threatening a Moscow City Court judge were brought against Sergei Polovets, born in 1978, she said.