Defense for ex-chief of Russia's penitentiary service Korshunov determined to go to ECHR to prove his innocence
MOSCOW. Aug 9 (Interfax) - Defense lawyers for Oleg Korshunov, a former deputy head of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, are determined to seek his acquittal in all possible judicial instances.
"We will fight till the end in the appeal instance, and if this doesn't work, also in the cassation instance of the Russian Supreme Court and in the ECHR [the European Court of Human Rights], " Korshunov's lawyer Sergei Starovoitov said at a press conference at Interfax on Thursday.
The defense team will make a final decision on appealing to international judicial instances after discussing the matter with Korshunov, he said.
The criminal cases against Korshunov "have absolutely no objective evidence proving his guilt, and all charges are based on fabricated witness testimony," he said.
Moscow's Gagarinsky District Court ruled on Monday to find Korshunov guilty of embezzling over 263 million rubles of budget funds allocated for procuring footwear for convicts and sentence him to seven years in a general security penitentiary. He was also fined 900,000 rubles.
Korshunov denied any wrongdoing. His defense has appealed the court ruling.
After the court delivered the sentence, Korshunov said 97% of the footwear in question has been worn out in penitentiaries, and the criminal case against him was "simply fabricated, because it's ridiculous to think that something was stolen."