The court released Leonid Zhegulev, convicted of drug possession, on parole

Warning about a possible conflict of interest. Leonid Zhegulev is the brother of Meduza special correspondent Ilya Zhegulev. Ilya Zhegulev did not take part in writing this news.

On August 15, the Lgovsky District Court of the Kursk Region granted the petition of Leonid Zhegulev, a resident of Moscow, for parole. He will leave the colony on August 27, said his brother, Meduza special correspondent Ilya Zhegulev.

In April 2018, Leonid Zhegulev was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of drug possession.

Zhegulev could apply for parole in February 2019, but the colony administration did not give him encouragement. In April, he was given a promotion, after which he applied for early release. At the same time, the leadership of the colony was delaying the provision of documents to the court, Ilya Zhegulev said.

• Leonid Zhegulev was detained in November 2016 near his mother's house in Moscow. During a search, 26 grams of hashish were found in his pocket; in the apartment, the police found about 100 grams more and scales. As attesting witnesses, the policemen invited their acquaintances.
• Zhegulev's defense insisted that the drugs had been planted. Zhegulev admitted that he sometimes smoked marijuana, but did not sell it. Under Russian law, drug use is not a criminal offence.