The Krasnoyarsk court acquitted doctor Alevtina Khorinyak. This was reported by the online newspaper Krasnoyarsk News. She was accused of prescribing a powerful painkiller in 2009 to an acquaintance who was terminally ill with cancer. The head of the criminal practice of the law firm "Korelsky, Ishchuk, Astafiev and Partners" Vyacheslav Feoktistov answered questions from Kommersant FM host Alexey Korneev.

Photo: Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant / buy photo

The doctor was accused under two articles of the Criminal Code - “Illegal trafficking in potent drugs” and “Forgery of documents.”

- Why do you think this trial, this case, lasted so long - five whole years?

— I can assume that due to the fact that it is a very big problem for our courts to make an acquittal in a case, the courts are not yet morally ready to make objective and legal decisions, which is why this is what happens.

— What sentence would Alevtina Khorinyak face for trafficking in potent drugs and forgery of a prescription today?

— Each specific situation must be approached individually, but the very fact that, based on the totality of the crimes, she was sentenced to a fine of 15 thousand rubles, probably indicates that the court at the time of the guilty verdict understood that the guilt was there there probably wasn't. This was a kind of compromise between the prosecution and the defense, that is, the prosecution and the court ultimately hoped that a mild punishment would prevent or, so to speak, suppress the defendant’s desire to further appeal the decision, but the person exercised his right.

“The person is elderly, and the court, in general, acquitted her; there was no corpus delicti in the actions of the accused; apparently, the doctor’s age was also taken into account.

— Age in this situation is, in fact, a mitigating circumstance when making a decision to acquit a person, that is, indicating that there is no corpus delicti, probably the court approached this objectively, based on the circumstances of the case: first of all, because that the person for whom these drugs were intended was a truly sick person who had the right to receive these drugs and to use them. I assume that this is why the court's decision was ultimately made.

“It is a very big problem for our courts to issue an acquittal”