St. Petersburg, Russia
Russian historian Oleg Sokolov fHe was sentenced on Friday to 12 and a half years in prison in St. Petersburg for killing and dismembering his partner, a case that reopened the debate on domestic violence in Russia.
Sokolov “was fully aware of his own actions at the time of the offense“Judge Yulia Maksimenko said when she handed down the verdict in a court in the former Russian imperial capital.
defense of the historian He proclaimed his “disagreement” with the sentence, because he did not rule on a possible appeal.
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Sokolov was arrested on November 10, 2019. He then pleaded guilty and was tried in early June for murder and possession of weapons.
Police pulled him out of the Moika River in a state of intoxication and found two women’s arms and a weapon in his backpack. Other fragments of the victim’s body were later found in another stream.
The 63-year-old historian, Napoleon specialist at St. Petersburg State University, quickly confessed to killing and dismembering one of his former students, 24-year-old Anastassia Echtchenko, with whom he shared his life. .
He claimed to have committed the accidental crime, shooting him to “stop a flood of insults” during a dispute, according to the Ria Novosti news agency.
The victim’s lawyers said he premeditated his act. The Russian prosecutor’s office had asked for 15 years in prison against him.
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The reputation of St. Petersburg State University has been questioned for its inertia, as Sokolov had already been charged with violence in 2008.