Pyotr Ofitserov
Pyotr Ofitserov, born 1975, Moscow. Charges: Article 160 part 4 applied with Article 33 part 5, Russian Criminal Code (Theft of someone else's property, committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale…); “The Kirovles case”. Sentence (July 17, 2013): 4 years' imprisonment and a fine of 500 thousand rubles (US$4,450). Status: deceased. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as persecuted on political grounds, October 17, 2013; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as persecuted on political grounds, April 7, 2013.
In brief
Moscow · Kirov · Entrepreneurs
Sentence
4 years
imprisonment and a fine of 500 thousand rubles (US$4,450)
Upheld February 7, 2017
Charges
- Article 160 part 4 applied with Article 33 part 5, Russian Criminal Code — Theft of someone else's property, committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale (accomplice)
Full wording of the charges
Ofitserov was head of the Vyatka Forest Company, which purchased underpriced timber products from Kirovles and then sold them to consumers at market prices.
Latest event
July 13, 2018 — persecution ends
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as persecuted on political grounds — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, October 17, 2013
- Recognised as persecuted on political grounds — Memorial Human Rights Centre, April 7, 2013
Timeline
· Persecution ends
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
· Recognised as persecuted on political grounds
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Preventive measure: travel ban (written undertaking)
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №1 (SIZO-1) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russian Federation for Kirov Oblast
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 4 years
· Recognised as persecuted on political grounds
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Persecution begins
The Kirovles case
Criminal case
Details and sources
Full summary
In May 2011, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Ofitserov for causing property damage to the company Kirovles by deception. On 10 April 2012, the case was dismissed for lack of corpus delicti but it was reopened on 29 May 2012 by order of the leadership of the Investigative Committee of Russia. According to the investigation, Pyotr Ofitserov assisted Alexei Navalny by purchasing at market price timber products that had been bought underpriced from Kirovles. The defense argued that the purchase from Kirovles was made at market prices. On 18 July 2013, the Leninsky District Court of Kirov sentenced Ofitserov to four years in prison. Ofitserov was taken into custody in the courtroom, but spent less than a day in the pre-trial detention centre. The next day the court, on the proposal of the prosecutor's office, ruled to release Ofitserov on his own recognisance until the sentence enters into legal force. On 16 October 2013, the Kirov Regional Court replaced Ofitserov's real sentence with a suspended one.
In November 2016, the Supreme Court cancelled the sentence due to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which recognised the prosecution as groundless. The Leninsky Court of Kirov began to re-examine the case. On 1 February 2017, the court ruled to release Ofitserov on personal recognisance. On 8 February, he was sentenced to a four-year suspended sentence.
Ofitserov died in July 2018.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia