A representative of striking miners from Gukovo received a suspended sentence on charges of threatening to kill

Judge of the Krasnosulinsky District Court of the Rostov Region Valery Orlov sentenced Valery Dyakonov, a representative of the striking workers of the Kingcoal company, accused of threatening to kill, to a year of suspended imprisonment, Rosbalt reports .

“As a social activist told a Rosbalt correspondent, the judge also restricted his right of movement and banned him from attending mass events,” the agency notes.

Initially, he was sentenced to 60 hours of correctional labor, but that sentence was appealed. According to Dyakonov, the sentence, which involves restriction of freedom, was imposed in order to limit his ability to provide assistance to the Gukovo miners.

According to investigators, in November 2015, Dyakonov, while in the office of the deputy head of the Zverevo city administration, demonstrated a gas pistol. Law enforcement authorities believed it was a death threat.

Rosbalt notes that the incident was recorded by a camera, but the sound was not recorded. Dyakov himself insisted: he showed a pistol, explaining to the official that because of the threats he had to carry a weapon with him. The administration employee claimed that he threatened him.

In August 2016, Kingcole employees went on strike over wage arrears since May 2015. Dyakonov regularly gave comments to the media as a representative of the miners.

In November 2016, buses carrying miners were not allowed out of the city when they tried to go to Rostov-on-Don for a rally. The following month, a similar situation occurred when Kingcoal employees tried to travel to Moscow for a meeting with State Duma deputies.