In Moscow, a young Belarusian was sentenced to a huge term — he was paid only $26 for setting fire to a locomotive
A military court sentenced 20-year-old Belarusian citizen Ilya Alyashkevich to 16 years under an article for a terrorist act committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. His peer, Russian Anton Baklanov, was given 15 years, Kommersant writes .
According to case materials, the accused were looking for quick earnings on Telegram. For a reward of 120 thousand Russian rubles (about $1500), they were offered to set fire to a railcar (a special self-propelled wagon) at Bykovo station in the Moscow region.
The young men drained gasoline from a Gazelle car in a garage cooperative, after which Alyashkevich broke a window in the carriage and set fire to the cabin, while Baklanov filmed the process on video to report to the curator. As a result, property damage amounted to about $70,000, although Alyashkevich received only $26 for completing the task.
The qualification of the case caused disputes among law enforcement agencies. The FSB, which conducted examinations, did not find terrorist motives or intent for sabotage in the actions of the young men. FSB officers concluded that the defendants were misled and their actions should be classified as rendering transport vehicles unusable, which entails up to one year of imprisonment.
However, after the case was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation continued under the article on terrorism.
The defense insisted that the defendants had no intention of intimidating the population or destabilizing the government.
The arson occurred late at night on a dead-end track, far from people, and the fire was extinguished in eight minutes.
Lawyers noted that the word "Ukraine" was absent from correspondence and testimonies, and the young men themselves — one of whom was an orphanage resident, and the other left home at 17 — were simply trying to find money for housing.
Despite the defense's arguments, Judge Yuri Masin handed down the sentences requested by the state prosecution.
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