A Russian court has sentenced a man to 20 years in jail for murdering a soccer fan during a drunken brawl in Moscow in December 2010.
The Moscow City Court said on October 28 that Aslan Cherkesov was guilty of premeditated murder, while five other people who took part in the brawl were sentenced to five years in jail each.
Cherkesov's lawyer, Dmitry Pankov, told journalists outside the courtroom in Moscow that there would probably not be an appeal.
"I need to discuss it with [Cherkesov], because it was already a nice surprise for him when he heard prosecutors demanding 23 years and not a life sentence," Pankov added.
"So when we visited him in the last few days, he said that maybe there is no need to appeal the verdict, but only [appeal] the sentence. It is quite possible that the verdict will not be appealed."
After Cherkesov, a native of the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region, killed Yegor Sviridov in December, thousands of ultranationalists rallied outside the Kremlin for several days to press for convictions.
The incident highlighted the ethnic tensions running in Russia and underscored the security dilemma facing officials after their successful campaign to bring the 2018 World Cup to Russia for the first time.
compiled from agency reports
The Moscow City Court said on October 28 that Aslan Cherkesov was guilty of premeditated murder, while five other people who took part in the brawl were sentenced to five years in jail each.
Cherkesov's lawyer, Dmitry Pankov, told journalists outside the courtroom in Moscow that there would probably not be an appeal.
"I need to discuss it with [Cherkesov], because it was already a nice surprise for him when he heard prosecutors demanding 23 years and not a life sentence," Pankov added.
"So when we visited him in the last few days, he said that maybe there is no need to appeal the verdict, but only [appeal] the sentence. It is quite possible that the verdict will not be appealed."
After Cherkesov, a native of the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region, killed Yegor Sviridov in December, thousands of ultranationalists rallied outside the Kremlin for several days to press for convictions.
The incident highlighted the ethnic tensions running in Russia and underscored the security dilemma facing officials after their successful campaign to bring the 2018 World Cup to Russia for the first time.
compiled from agency reports