Moscow court eases sentences for defendants in controversial extremism case
On Tuesday, January 12, the Moscow City Court reduced the sentences of some of the defendants in the controversial “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) extremism case, RIA Novosti reported.
Two of the three defendants serving time in prison saw their terms reduced by three months. Ruslan Kostylenkov’s sentence was reduced to six and a half years in prison, while Pyotr Karamzin’s sentence was reduced to six years and three months. The court left Vyacheslav Kryukov’s sentence (six years in prison) unchanged.
The other defendants in the case — Anna Pavlikova, Maria Dubovik, Dmitry Poletaev, and Maxim Roshchin — remain on probation, though according to MBX Media Pavlikova and Dubovik saw their probationary periods reduced by one year.
Anna Pavlikova’s attorney, Olga Karlova, told MBX Media that the lawyers representing all of the defendants plan to file a cassation appeal, since they are seeking acquittals in the case.
Seven suspects in the New Greatness case were convicted in August 2020. An eighth defendant in the case, Pavel Rebrovsky — who made a plea deal with investigators but later recanted his testimony, — was sentenced to six years in prison in October of last year.
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The New Greatness case
In 2018, ten activists from the so-called “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) movement were accused of organizing an illegal extremist group. Investigators believe they were plotting to “overthrow Russia’s constitutional order,” using leaflets and Telegram chat messages. The suspects’ parents accuse the police of framing their children for crimes they didn’t commit, and sources have told reporters that an undercover police officer was embedded inside the organization. The New Greatness case trial began in June 2019.