Days after filing a request to be transferred to an open prison, Vitaly Akishin, who is serving a 23 1/2-year prison term for murdering reformist lawmaker Galina Starovoitova in 1998, withdrew the request without explanation, the Unified Press Service for courts in Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, said on December 13. Open prison is a dormitory-like facility where convicts can be transferred to after serving two-thirds of their sentences without violating internal order regulations in prisons. Starovoitova's murder stunned Russia at the time and sent shock waves abroad during Boris Yeltsin's presidency. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Convicted Murderer Of Russian Reformist Starovoitova Withdraws Transfer Request
Hearings of the criminal case on the murder of Galina Starovoitova at a court in St. Petersburg in January 2015.