NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia -- A Russian antidrug activist convicted of holding drug addicts against their will received a suspended four-year prison sentence today, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Albert Sazhin, leader of the Novosibirsk-based Against Drugs Foundation, and three of his colleagues were found guilty by a court in the central Russian city of depriving people of their freedom and incarcerating them against their will.
The three other men received suspended sentences ranging from three to six years in jail.
The judge said that since the defendants did not pursue any personal interests when they locked up drug addicts and alcoholics in their rehabilitation center, their sentences would be suspended.
It is not clear if the prosecutor, who had demanded prison terms for the four defendants, will challenge the sentences.
Read more in Russian here
Albert Sazhin, leader of the Novosibirsk-based Against Drugs Foundation, and three of his colleagues were found guilty by a court in the central Russian city of depriving people of their freedom and incarcerating them against their will.
The three other men received suspended sentences ranging from three to six years in jail.
The judge said that since the defendants did not pursue any personal interests when they locked up drug addicts and alcoholics in their rehabilitation center, their sentences would be suspended.
It is not clear if the prosecutor, who had demanded prison terms for the four defendants, will challenge the sentences.
Read more in Russian here