The prosecutor requested 23 years of prison for Serhiy Furgal

The prosecutor requested 23 years of a strict regime prison for the former governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, Sergei Furgal, who is accused of organizing contract killings of businessmen. This was reported by the Telegram channel of the politician’s supporters.

For Furgal’s former assistant Andrey Karepov, the state prosecution demanded 22 years of strict regime, for Andrey Paley, accused of two murders — 17 years, for the accused in the attempted murder of Marat Kadyrov — 10.5 years.

At the meeting on February 8, the defense requested the attachment of signature letters in support of Furgal, but the court refused this request, “not finding information about Furgal’s identity in them.” For protesting, Furgal was threatened with removal from the hall. “The opinion of 30,000 people is much more important than the marginals you brought from Lyuberts,” Andrey Karepov responded, referring to the jurors.

On February 2, six jurors of the Lyubertsy Court of the Moscow Region found Sergei Furgal and three others involved in the case guilty of organizing the contract killings of businessman Evgeny Zora and former MIA employee Oleg Bulatov, as well as the attempted murder of businessman Alexander Smolsky in the mid-2000s.

• Sergei Furgal was detained in July 2020 on charges of organizing the murders of businessmen. He does not admit guilt, stating that there is no evidence against him, and the criminal case is actually based on the testimony of one person. In October 2021, two new criminal cases were opened against Furgal: fraud and the creation of a criminal community.
• Mass actions in support of Furgal took place in Khabarovsk in 2020 and 2021. The participants of the rallies, who were supported in other cities of Russia, demanded that the case be considered in Khabarovsk, and also called for the resignation of the current regional and federal authorities. Later, many activists were subjected to persecution: fines and arrests.