The court confirmed the mitigation of the sentence to the ex-head of the ground forces

The Presidium of the Moscow District Military Court recognized as legitimate the mitigation of the sentence to the former chief of the ground forces, Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin, who was replaced by a fine. This is reported by Interfax.

In the court, the Moscow City Military Prosecutor Vladislav Podkhodchenko said that the court of appeal illegally retrained the article “Breaking” to “Fraud”, thereby incorrectly applying the criminal law. According to Prikhodchenko, the court of second instance unreasonably reduced the degree of public danger of the crime and appointed Chirkin an unfair punishment.

In August 2015, the courtsentenced Chirkin to a five -year term in a strict regime in the case of a bribe of 450 thousand rubles. According to the Investigative Committee, the crime was committed in 2008, when Colonel General was deputy commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District. For a bribe, Chirkin promised to help the ex-military servant of the Moscow military district Vladimir Lopanov receive a one-room apartment. Meanwhile, the apartment was supposed to Lopanov according to the law.

At the same time, after giving a bribe, Lopanov could not settle in the apartment because she was busy with other ex-military. After the soldier could not get his money back, he turned to the main military prosecutor. As a result, Chirkin was removed from the post of commander, and Lopanov achieved the apartment.

The court deprived Chirkin of titles and awards. The ex-head himself claimed that he was deceived by intermediaries.

At the end of December 2015, the Moscow District Military Court softened Chirkin . The court replaced the real term with a fine of 90 thousand rubles. The actions of the ex-headmaker were re-qualified from part 5 of Article 290 (receiving a bribe) to part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud). The court of appeal canceled the decision of the Moscow garrison court to deprive the convicted awards, as well as a military rank. The convict was returned to his orders and the title of Colonel General.

In February, it was reported that Chirkin I could return to the service in the Ministry of Defense . For his return, the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov spoke out. Prior to this, Chirkin appealed to the 235th garrison military court with a petition for the early removal of a criminal record. In his statement, he explained that "he is aimed at an active life position, intends to continue the service and confirm loyalty to military duty with worthy service to the Fatherland."

Chirkin attached the characteristic given to him by Gerasimov. It notes that Chirkin is a strong -willed, initiative, erudite and demanding general who is distinguished by "disinterested responsiveness to the requests of subordinates, kindness, decency and honesty." Gerasimov also noted the consistency of the convict and his "commitment to the spiritual and moral values ​​of the Russian army." The head of the General Staff called the criminal prosecution "the result of an accidental combination of circumstances."

On May 12, the Supreme Court granted the cassation appeal of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office to mitigate the sentence to Chirkin and instructed the Presidium of the Moscow District Military Court to return to the examination of the military case. "The main military prosecutor's office considers the incorrect retraining of the act of the former commander in chief of the ground forces from a large -scale bribe to fraud and the appellation instance of an unreasonably soft sentence," a source familiar with the situation noted.