A court in Russia has sentenced Sergei Furgal, the former governor of the Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, to 22 years in prison after a jury convicted him of attempted murder and ordering two killings in 2004 and 2005, charges the former governor has steadfastly denied.
The Lyubertsy City Court that held the trial in the building of the Moscow regional court on February 10 also sentenced Furgal's co-defendants, Marat Kadyrov, Andrei Palei, and Andrei Karepov, to 9 1/2, 17, and 21 years in prison, respectively.
Furgal was found guilty of all charges on February 2.
The prosecutor claimed in the courtroom the day before that decisions to commit the murders were driven by the commercial interests of Furgal and his accomplices. Investigators said Kadyrov was the actual perpetrator of the crime.
Furgal has stressed his innocence several times in court. He and his supporters insist that the case against him is politically motivated.
In his closing remarks, the ex-governor noted that 100 witnesses were brought forward by the defense, but only two were interrogated, while the rest were not admitted. In addition, he alleged the investigation hid material evidence.
Furgal, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, was elected in 2018 in a runoff that he won handily against the region's longtime incumbent from the Kremlin-backed ruling United Russia party.
His arrest on July 9, 2020, sparked mass protests in the regional capital, Khabarovsk, and several other towns and cities in the region.
SEE ALSO: 19 Detained As Long-Running Khabarovsk Protests ContinueThe protests were held almost daily for many months, highlighting growing discontent in Russia's Far East over what demonstrators see as Moscow-dominated policies that often neglect their views and interests.