Glukhov and Artemyev who fled to Georgia can be exempted from criminal liability in the Russian Federation

Russian troops Alexander Glukhov and Dmitry Artemyev , who fled to Georgia, can avoid criminal liability in case of their extradition in the Russian Federation, if the investigation establishes that difficult circumstances of the service were the reason for their desertion, the head of the military investigative department (Armed Forces) of the Russian Federation of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General of Justice Sergey Sorochkin.

“If it is established that desertion was a consequence of a combination of difficult circumstances, then they (Glukhov and Artemyev) in accordance with a note to Article 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can be exempted from criminal liability,” Sorochkin said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda , published on Monday.

“But even if such (circumstances) will not be established and they are waiting for a conviction, it seems to me that it is still better than spending the rest of their lives in a foreign land and not be able to visit relatives and friends, to communicate in their native language,” the Armed Forces and the head of the Armed Forces.

"Do not forget that they are put on an international wanted list. And this means that when visiting any other country of the world, they can be detained and ultimately issued to Russia," he added.

Sergeant Glukhov fled from a military unit in South Ossetia at the end of January 2009. He surrendered to the Georgian policeman and asked him to provide him with asylum in Georgia. A criminal case has been instituted against Glukhov in Russia under part 1 of Art. 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("unauthorized abandonment of the service place in order to evade military service, that is, desertion").

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation sent a request for Glukhov to Georgia. On June 24, a preliminary investigation in this criminal case is suspended. However, on July 7, the Georgian authorities refused to issue Glukhov to the Russian side, satisfying his application for the assignment of refugee status.

Private Artemyev on July 2 left his part in the village of Revy on the Georgian-Ossetian border and fled to Georgia. There he was given refugee status. In Russia, Artemyev is accused under Articles 338 and 226 (“Deserting with weapons” and “Theft of weapons”). The maximum punishment is 10 years of prison.

It should be noted that the AKS-74 machine, 6 stores with 180 rounds and army binoculars, with which Artemyev left his post, the Georgian side returned the Russian side back in July.

It should be noted that there was a mirror case: in mid -June, the lieutenant of the Georgian army Alik Bzhanya on the air of the Echo of Moscow radio station asked for a political asylum in Russia . He explained his decision with disagreement with the course of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. In Tbilisi, this appeal was called the "very cheap provocation" of Moscow. According to the Georgian leadership, "these are inventions of the Russian special services in order to cover their powerlessness against Glukhov and the facts that occur in the Russian army."