Sergei Furgal, sentenced to 22 years in prison, appealed the sentence

The former governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, Sergei Furgal, who was sentenced to 22 years in a strict regime colony, appealed the sentence. This was reported by his lawyer Alexander Startsev.

In the appeal, which Furgal sent in writing from the pre-trial detention center, the former governor asks to cancel the sentence and send the case for re-examination in a different composition of the court. Defenders of the other defendants in the case also appealed the verdicts.

On February 10, the Moscow Regional Court sentenced Sergei Furgal to 22 years in a strict-regime prison. The jury found the former governor of Khabarovsk Krai guilty of organizing an attempted assassination of three business competitors. Furgal himself did not admit guilt, considering his persecution to be political. The lawyers considered the sentence illegal and unfounded.

• Furgal was detained in Khabarovsk in July 2020 and immediately taken to Moscow. He became an accused in a criminal case after winning the gubernatorial elections in 2018. He defeated the Kremlin-backed candidate Vyacheslav Short.
• After Furgal’s arrest, numerous protest actions were held in support of the politician in Khabarovsk for several months.
• After the sentencing of the former governor of Khabarovsk Krai, a few dozen people took to the streets of Khabarovsk with portraits of Furgal and posters: “Russia is ruled by Satan”, “The Disgraceful Judgment of the False Femids”, “Freedom of Russia” and others. On February 12 – Sergei Furgal’s birthday – Khabarovsk was plastered with leaflets in support of the former governor.