The Case of Tobacco

The scandalous trial ended in scandal

Yesterday, the scandalous trial of businessmen Igor Poddubny and Evgeny Babkov ended in the Moscow City Court - the jury, by nine votes to three, completely acquitted them. The jury in this case had to be seated three times. The first was dissolved even before the verdict was rendered due to the illness of several assessors. The second worked the trial to the end, delivered a not guilty verdict, and then some of the people’s judges, along with the defendants’ lawyer, were “caught” by the prosecutor during a banquet on the occasion of the “victory.” The Supreme Court overturned this verdict, and lawyer Viktor Parshutkin was accused of obstruction of justice and put on the international wanted list. And yesterday the jury again returned a not guilty verdict.

A criminal case against the owners of a large dealer company selling imported cigarettes “Technoservice”, Igor Poddubny and Evgeny Babkov, was opened by the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (SK) back in 2000. They were accused of smuggling, fraud, evasion of customs duties and causing property damage, committed as part of an organized group. According to investigators, entrepreneurs deliberately lowered prices for expensive cigarettes from large tobacco corporations, such as British American Tobacco - the goods were purchased at a high price, then resold at low prices to a certain foreign fund named after St. Patrick, which, in turn, through a Russian consignee company he returned them back to Technoservice. This company sold goods on the Russian market at a “normal” price. As a result, according to the investigation, entrepreneurs received huge profits, and the state lost due payments totaling 22 million rubles. In addition, Messrs. Poddubny and Babkov were accused of stealing $2 million from the Gloria Trade company in 1999, allegedly violating their obligations to purchase and sell imported cigarettes in Russia.

The Moscow City Court began hearing this case with the participation of a jury in October 2004. However, soon, due to the illness of several assessors, the board was dissolved, and it had to be recruited again. On February 3 last year, the jury found the defendants not guilty. Evgeny Babkov was released from custody right in the courtroom, and Mr. Poddubny had to remain in the pre-trial detention center, since he had previously been convicted of damaging documents (he ate several sheets from the materials of his criminal case) and resisting a government official.

On the same day when the acquittal was rendered, the state prosecutor of the capital's prosecutor's office, Maria Semenenko, in the Castle restaurant, which is literally a stone's throw from the Moscow City Court, accidentally came across several jurors who, in company with lawyer Viktor Parshutkin, were celebrating the defense's victory in the trial. And a week later, Mr. Parshutkin arranged a banquet at one of the Starina Muller restaurants, where the jurors of the first and second panels of the board were present. All these events were recorded, and then the materials were transferred to the Moscow prosecutor's office, and the city prosecutor obtained in court the initiation of a criminal case against lawyer Parshutkin. He was accused under Art. 294 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of justice) and put on the international wanted list (according to some reports, the lawyer is now in Ukraine).

In her complaint against the verdict, state prosecutor Semenenko indicated that the jury from the very beginning demonstrated a biased attitude towards the parties to the trial. In particular, the speeches of the defendants and lawyers were reacted with applause, and the speeches of the prosecutor were greeted with a friendly roar. The Supreme Court overturned the verdict, the case was returned to the Moscow City Court, and the acquitted were again arrested. And the story of lawyer Parshutkin and the jury became a household name and turned out to be one of the main reasons for taking measures to ensure the safety of the jury and the inadmissibility of their communication with the parties to the trial.

Yesterday morning the jury retired to announce their verdict and deliberated all day until late in the evening. Lawyers and prosecutors awaited their verdict with trepidation, but it turned out to be stunning: by nine votes to three, Poddubny and Babkov were again acquitted.

Yesterday the parties commented sparingly on the jury's verdict. Formally, the process has not yet been completed - a discussion of the acquittal verdict should take place in the coming days, after which the court will officially announce the acquittal of the defendants.

Ekaterina BUTORINA