Prosecution demands nine years in jail for Mikhail Balabanov for commissariat arson

At the Southern District Military Court, the prosecutor has demanded to sentence Mikhail Balabanov, 21, to nine years in jail on charges of preparing to set fire to the military commissariat (registration and enlistment office) in Nevinnomyssk. Balabanov's guilt has not been proven; there are signs of falsification in the case, his defence has pointed out, demanding to acquit the defendant.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the military court in Rostov-on-Don had been considering Mikhail Balabanov's case since this January. He does not deny committing specific actions, but refuses to treat them as preparation for committing a terror act. The defence points to evidence of provocation undertaken by law enforcers. At the same time, Balabanov's testimonies made at the preliminary investigation prove his confession of hatred towards Russian leadership.

Vitaly Savin, an advocate, has pointed out that Balabanov's guilt had not been proven. In particular, investigators failed to provide evidence that the defendant had intended to set fire to the military commissariat.

The advocate has also questioned the authenticity of a fragment of his client's correspondence with a certain person who introduced himself as an employee of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Ukraine. This correspondence fragment spoke of arson, while Balabanov himself indicated in his testimony that the text of the message had been changed.

"Cases are known that FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) agents, in order to fabricate criminal cases, can, under the guise of 'Ukrainians' in personal correspondence, incite a crime, including for money," the advocate has stated.