St. Petersburg, Russia
The Russian historian Oleg Sokolov fon Friday he was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison in St. Petersburg for killing and dismembering his partner, a case that has reopened the debate on domestic violence in Russia.
Sokolov “was fully aware of his actions at the time of the crime“Judge Yulia Maksimenko said when pronouncing the verdict in a court of the former Russian imperial capital.
the defense of the historian proclaim his “dissatisfaction” with the sentence, as no possible appeal has been ruled.
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Sokolov was arrested on November 10, 2019. He later pleaded guilty and was tried from early June for murder and possession of weapons.
Police pulled him out of the Moika River in a state of intoxication and found in the backpack two woman’s arms and a handgun. Other fragments of the victim’s body were later found in another stream.
The 63-year-old historian, a specialist in Napoleon at St. Petersburg State University, quickly confessed to killing and dismembering one of his former students, 24-year-old Anastassia Echtchenko, with whom he shared his life.
He claimed to have committed the accidental shooting-by-shooting to “end an avalanche of insults” during an argument, according to RIA Novosti news agency.
The victim’s lawyers said he had premeditated his act. Russian prosecutors had asked for 15 years in prison against him.
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The highly prestigious St. Petersburg State University was questioned out of inertia, as Sokolov had already been accused of violence in 2008.