The prosecutor demanded 23 years in prison for Sergey Furgal on charges of murder

Earlier on February 2, the jury found Furgal guilty of two murders, attempted murder and illegal arms trafficking, Interfax reports. The jury said that Furgal did not deserve leniency on any of the points.

Furgal was charged with organizing the murders of businessmen Yevgeny Zori and Oleg Bulatov, as well as the attempted murder of businessman Alexander Smolsky. The investigation believes that Furgal was in conflict with two victims on business, and decided to eliminate the third because he began to guess about Furgal's probable involvement in the organization of the murders.

Along with Furgal, there are three other defendants in the dock, who the jury also found guilty. For Marat Kadyrov, Andrey Paley and Andrei Karepov was ordered by the prosecutor to spend ten and a half, 17 and 22 years in a strict regime colony, respectively.

The investigation named Furgal as the customer of the crimes, Karepov as the organizer, and Kadyrov and Palea — direct performers.

The current version of the Criminal Code provides for crimes specified in the charge up to a life term. However, the court cannot impose such a punishment, since the charge relates to the events of 2004-2005, for which the statute of limitations has already expired.

Of all the persons in the dock, the jury found only Kadyrov deserving of leniency on the episode of attempted murder.

Furgal himself did not admit guilt on any of the charges, calling his criminal prosecution illegal and politically motivated.

After Furgal's arrest, a wave of protests swept through the Khabarovsk Territory: citizens categorically did not believe in the involvement of the head of the region in the incriminated acts and for many months regularly went to rallies demanding to cancel the arrest of the elected governor.