Belevetin's defense attorney explains decision to appeal verdict
MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) - The lawyer for Alexander Belevitin, a former head of the Defense Ministry's Medical Directorate who was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday, will appeal the Moscow district military court's verdict in a higher court.
"We definitely disagree with the decision made by the court and will appeal. This is also because a senior defense official was convicted on the basis of a testimony of a person, who was earlier convicted of fraud, and testimony by foreign nationals. We believe a higher court will take note of this," Nadezha Duvanskaya told reporters.
The case witness who was convicted of fraud received a suspended sentence in exchange for "certain evidence," she said.
I spoke to my client after the verdict was issued and he took it stoically, she added.
State prosecutors said they were satisfied with the verdict.
"Overall, the state prosecution is satisfied with the verdict by the Moscow district military court. Despite Belevitin's refusal to plead guilty, the court agreed with our argument on the taking of a 180,000 euro bribe for lobbying the interests of commercial firms which sell tomographs," chief military prosecutor's aide Col. Yevgeny Belousov told reporters.
Prosecutors will decide whether to appeal the verdict after studying the decision issued by the court after certain actions of the defendants were re-qualified, he said.
