Court cancels lenient sentence to Sochi policemen for extorting bribe

The Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi sentenced criminal investigator Yefrem Kesyan to seven years of probation, finding him guilty of accepting a bribe from a detainee. The Supreme Court (SC) of Russia found the sentence unreasonably lenient.

According to the investigators’ version, in July 2022, Yefrem Kesyan, a junior criminal investigator at the Criminal Investigating Department of the Sochi Internal Affairs Directorate brought to a police department a local resident caught with drugs. Yefrem Kesyan offered a detainee’s mother to give him a bribe of 200,000 roubles and a watch worth 50,000 roubles. In return, criminal investigator Yefrem Kesyan promised the woman not to register information about her son’s crime.

The case materials state that Yefrem Kesyan actively extorted a bribe, explaining to the detainee how he could quickly get the necessary amount by pawning his car at a pawnshop. Yefrem Kesyan was detained while the watch was being handed over to him. The Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi found Yefrem Kesyan guilty of accepting a bribe and sentenced him to seven years of probation. The court took into account the Yefrem Kesyan’s repentance and cooperation with investigators as mitigating circumstances, the official website of the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia reports.

The prosecutor’s office did not agree with the verdict and lodged an appeal against it. The Supreme Court (SC) of Russia cancelled the verdict and sent the case for a new consideration.