Opposition activist Osipova gets eight years in prison
MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The Smolensk Zadneprovsky District Court has sentenced Other Russia activist Taisiya Osipova to eight years in prison, an Interfax correspondent has reported.
The state prosecutor has sought four years in prison for Osipova.
Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, who had arrived in Smolensk to support Osipova, told Interfax that he finds the sentence "horrible and unfair."
"The prosecutor had asked for four years in prison, and the court gave her eight. And that's on a fully fabricated case," he said.
Osipova was arrested in Smolensk on suspicion of drug dealing on November 25, 2010. The woman's defense lawyers and the movement Other Russia insisted that she was framed to put pressure on her husband Sergei Fomchenkov, a member of the movement's executive committee. They also insisted that the witnesses submit to polygraph tests, saying the drugs were planted on her.
On December 29, the Zadneprovsky District Court sentenced Osipova to ten years in a penal colony. On February 15, 2012, the Smolensk region's court reserved the sentence and ordered a new trial.
On March 5, 2012, Dmitry Medvedev, who was then president of Russia, asked the Prosecutor General's Office to analyze the legality of the conviction of some citizens. There were 32 people on the list, including Osipova.
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