10:23 23.05.2016

Defense of convicted Russian citizens Yerofeyev, Alexandrov to file pardon appeal with Ukrainian president shortly

2 min read
Defense of convicted Russian citizens Yerofeyev, Alexandrov to file pardon appeal with Ukrainian president shortly

The legal defense of Russian citizens Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev will not appeal their sentence but may file a pardon appeal after the Ukrainian court's judgment takes effect, Alexandrov's lawyer Valentyn Rybin told Interfax on Monday.

"We have made a decision not to lodge the appeal," the lawyer said, adding that the appeal deadline would expire on May 23 and the sentence would take effect in the small hours of May 24.

The defense team plans to use legal mechanisms, Rybin said. "A pardon appeal may be filed with Ukrainian President [Petro Poroshenko]," he said.

In his words, this appeal may be filed on behalf of the convicts or their lawyers.

In turn, Yerofeyev's lawyer Oksana Sokolovska told Interfax that the sentence had actually taken effect on May 23.

She also said they would file a pardon appeal. "We will lodge the pardon appeal with the president," Sokolovska said. She did not specify how long the appeal might be processed, as the law did not set a definite timeframe for that procedure.

She wrote on Facebook later that the pardon appeal would be filed "shortly".

A panel of judges in the Kyiv Holosiyivsky District Court sentenced Yerofeyev and Alexandrov to 14 years on April 18, 2016.

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