Eight of the eleven alleged leaders of the organized crime group were found guilty

Today, the Khabarovsk Regional Court is expected to announce the verdict in the case of the leaders of the largest organized crime community in the Far East, Obshchak. This case became a precedent for Russia, since Far Eastern crime bosses and thieves in law were tried not so much for committing specific crimes, but for participation in a mafia organization and its leadership. The day before, the jury announced the verdict in the case, completely acquitting three of the eleven defendants. According to Kommersant's information, most of the charges against the others were dropped, but the most serious of them, “organizing a criminal community,” still remained.

As press secretary of the Khabarovsk Regional Court Ilya Andreev told Kommersant yesterday, in the trial of the case against 11 defendants accused of creating the organized criminal community (OCS) Obshchak, leading it and participating in its activities, the debate between the parties ended within the framework of discussing the consequences of the jury's verdict. The verdict itself was delivered by the assessors the day before. According to Mr. Andreev, eight of the eleven defendants were “found guilty of committing a number of crimes charged against them,” and three were acquitted. The names of those acquitted and the degree of guilt of the remaining members of the organized crime group admitted by the jury have not yet been disclosed. According to a Kommersant source close to the trial, the jury’s verdict removed two middle-level managers and one ordinary participant from the defendants. Among those acquitted, as the source explained, were two defendants who, under Part 1 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation incriminated control over the commission of crimes and “dissemination of the ideology of thieves’ concepts,” Roman Beloborodov and Sergei Rumyantsev. The third acquitted person, who was under recognizance not to leave the place, according to the source, was Kirill Zalischuk, who was accused only of participation in an organized crime group (Part 2 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to Kommersant’s sources, 19 out of 21 charges against the remaining defendants were dropped, but the main one—“organizing a criminal community”—remained. The maximum sanction under this article of the Criminal Code is imprisonment for a term of up to fifteen years.

Let us recall that a criminal case against the leaders of Obshchak was initiated on May 12, 2005 under Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Management of a criminal community or participation in it”). Among the accused are Eduard Sakhnov, Oleg Semakin and Oleg Shokhirev, who, according to the investigation materials, have the status of “thieves in law,” as well as persons who, according to the Khabarovsk Territory prosecutor Vitaly Kaplunov, had the status of so-called “tramps” in the criminal environment. The defendants were also charged with organizing murder, beating, kidnapping and theft. The trial of the Obshchakovskys began in the fall of 2007 and was closed to the press.

How we fought the Obshchak

The jury already tried to reach a verdict on the Obshchak leaders on February 11, but were unable to do so, having lost a quorum. Then the judge of the regional court, Alla Pavlova, decided to interrupt the consideration of the case and send it for a new trial due to “the refusal of some of the assessors to administer justice.” According to Kommersant's information, on the eve of the verdict, one of the 12 assessors was hospitalized with a severe form of pneumonia, and another reported that she had experienced pressure from one of the parties during the trial and recused herself. It was not possible to quickly replace the jury, since by that time the entire reserve composition (according to Kommersant, 15 people) had also dropped out of the trial: many jurors were forced to return to work, someone changed their place of residence or fell ill.

The defendants' lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky, appealed Ms. Pavlova's decision to the Supreme Court of Russia, and on April 9, it overturned the regional court's decision to dissolve the jury, recognizing it as illegal and unfounded. The assessors were ordered to assemble in the same composition and repeat the procedure for reaching a verdict. Experts then noted that this decision was “unprecedented for the judicial system of the region,” but stated that the illness of one of the main jurors, if it was impossible to replace him with a substitute assessor, should have led to the suspension of the trial, which could resume after the assessor’s recovery.

Representatives of the prosecution categorically refused to comment on the verdict. In turn, lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky told Kommersant that “the defense will certainly appeal the verdict” that will be pronounced following the trial. “After the decision of the Supreme Court, the board was reassembled, someone was added for a quorum and they were forced to pronounce a verdict! We will appeal this,” the lawyer said. According to Mr. Dobrovinsky, the jury, with its verdict, which acquitted the defendants of most of the charges, dealt a serious blow to the position of the prosecutor's office. “This means that the process, which was positioned by law enforcement agencies as indicative precisely from the point of view of convicting the alleged leaders of a criminal group for all the crimes charged to them, did not turn out to be such,” he added.

As Ilya Andreev told Kommersant, today the accused will be given the last word at the trial, after which the verdict will be announced.

Dmitry Shcherbakov, Nikolay Sergeev

"Obshchak" will hear the verdict in a revised composition