The Seventh Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction has reduced the sentence of folklorist and bard Valery Ledkov, who was convicted of financing extremist activities (Part 1, Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info was informed of this by his lawyer, Pavel Rusnakov.
The panel of judges replaced his three-year general regime prison sentence with three years of suspended imprisonment. The actual prison term for 60-year-old Ledkov was imposed on appeal at the request of the prosecutor.
Initially, the court of first instance sentenced the folklorist to a fine of 120,000 rubles (approx. US$1,350).
The defence clarified that Ledkov remains in Perm Penal Colony IK-29 for now. He will be released once the cassation decision is received by the colony.
The case against the folklorist was initiated because of seven donations of 300 rubles (approx. US$3.30) each to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.