Russian ex-mayor spared jail for journalist murder

MOSCOW, Russia – A Russian court on Thursday, January 16, found a former deputy mayor guilty of stabbing to death a journalist who had criticised his activities, but ruled he should not go to prison, prompting harsh criticism from a senior rights official.

The former deputy mayor of the city of Tulun in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, Gennady Zhigarev, stabbed the 74-year-old journalist Alexander Khodzinsky while in a “state of emotional disturbance,” the city court ruled, citing a psychiatric report.

The murderer was given a sentence of 1 year and 10 months of “limitation of freedom,” the Irkutsk Regional Investigative Committee said in a statement.

This means he is allowed to go home, while having to observe certain restrictions on his movements.

According to Russian law, someone who is convicted of murder would normally serve a minimum prison sentence of 6 years.

The Irkutsk region’s rights ombudsman, Valery Lukin said on Thursday that he was “disappointed by the court verdict and the sentence”.

“It is out of the question to call it just. The punishment for the murderer does not match the severity of the crime,” Lukin said in a statement.

The court ruled that the crime was committed due to “personal hostile relations” between the men.

But Lukin said that he was “convinced the crime was linked to Khodzinky’s carrying out his professional duty”.

“The murderer… and people close to him numerous times were the ‘heroes’ of exposes published by Khodzinsky,” Lukin said. The murderer became a prominent local businessman after leaving his official post.

Khodzinsky worked as a freelancer for a local newspaper called Kompas-TV.

“This sentence, like other similar court decisions, undermines belief in fairness. It lowers the level of trust not only in the courts but also in the country’s authorities as a whole,” Lukin said.

Officials and their relations often receive extremely light sentences in Russian courts for serious crimes, often because they pay relatives of victims large sums of compensation. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Russia was the 9th deadliest country for journalists last year. –Rappler.com