The Court of Appeal of the Tomsk Regional Court mitigated the punishment of the wife of the head of Tomsk, Ivan Klein, Galina Klein.
The mayor’s wife was accused of scratching the neck of one of the law enforcement officers who arrived to conduct a search in her husband’s case. In November 2021, she was sentenced to two years probation. The higher court reduced this term to one and a half years, recognizing her charitable activities and the presence of numerous awards as mitigating circumstances.
The Tomsk Regional Court on Thursday considered the appeal of the defense against the verdict of the Kirov Court, handed down in November last year to the wife of Tomsk Mayor Ivan Klein, Galina Klein, general director of the Tomsk Pivo company.
According to the materials of the investigation, in November 2020, the wife of the mayor scratched the neck of one of the law enforcement officers who arrived to conduct a search in her husband’s case: the head of Tomsk was detained on charges of malfeasance.
The injuries received by the security official were assessed by experts as “not dangerous to life or health.” In relation to Galina Klein, a criminal case was opened on the use of violence against a representative of the authorities (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sanction is up to five years in prison). The mayor’s wife fully admitted her guilt, and when the investigation was completed, she petitioned for the case to be considered under a simplified procedure – without examination of evidence and interrogation of witnesses. The prosecutor’s office opposed this, and the case was heard in the general order. On November 26, 2021, the Kirovsky District Court appointed the wife of the mayor a two-year suspended sentence with a similar probationary period.
As told in the regional court, the defense, without challenging the question of guilt, appealed the decision. On appeal, the lawyer asked for a lighter sentence for the mayor’s wife. The prosecutor’s office demanded that the complaint be dismissed. The regional court reduced Galina Klein’s suspended sentence from two to one and a half years. Her probation was reduced for the same six months. Circumstances mitigating the punishment were recognized such facts from the life of Ms. Klein as her participation in charitable activities and the presence of numerous awards, letters of thanks and letters of commendation, which marked her merits.
“The court, having reduced the punishment, apparently agreed with the arguments of the defense complaint,” lawyer Alexander Kholodov told Kommersant-Siberia. According to the defender, the issue of appealing the decision to the cassation instance will have to be resolved after studying the judicial act, since the regional court announced only the introductory and operative parts of the decision.
The head of Tomsk, Ivan Klein, is awaiting consideration of the appeal in the pre-trial detention center (he was removed from office for the period of investigation and trial). In December 2021, the court found him guilty of abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal business activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the materials of the Tomsk Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, having been elected mayor in 2013 and transferring his stake in OJSC Tomsk Pivo (51.02%) to his wife Galina for trust management, the mayor allegedly controlled the activities of the company, lobbied its interests and made management decisions . The official was sentenced to two years in a penal colony and a fine of 200,000 rubles. After the announcement of the verdict, the mayor was taken into custody in the courtroom. The decision did not suit either side. The prosecutor’s office considers the sentence too lenient and demands to toughen it, the defense side insists on the full acquittal of the mayor. Ivan Klein himself considers his case fabricated.