The case of football players Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev, who had already served their sentences for participating in two fights in the center of Moscow in October 2018, took a new turn. Eight months after their release from the penal colony, the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction overturned the appeal of the Moscow City Court “in view of material violations of the criminal and criminal procedure law”. The case will be sent for new consideration, so that the former players of the Russian national team had a chance to achieve a re-qualification of the prosecution.

Such a decision was made by the judicial board for criminal cases after considering the cassation appeal of lawyers against the decision of the Moscow City Court of June 13, 2019. Then Mamaev, Kokorin, his brother Kirill and Andrei Protasovitsky were left without changes in the terms of imprisonment previously set by the Presnensky court of Moscow, which found them guilty of hooliganism and assault and sentenced to a term of one year and five months to one and a half years in a penal colony.

In a cassation appeal, representatives of the defense indicated that, according to the content of the sentence, Vitaly Solovchuk, the driver of the First Channel’s presenter, had suffered the same injuries from all the persons involved in the case. In addition, according to lawyers, the courts did not assess their position on the absence of hooligan motives among the defendants in the case, and also did not take into account the video recording, which could be used to judge the provocative actions of the victim.

As a result, the judicial board pointed out significant violations of the criminal and criminal procedural law in passing the verdict and sent the criminal case of the players and their friends to a new appeal review. In particular, on the episode of causing damage to Solovchuk, the decision of the Moscow City Court contains contradictions in assessing the testimonies of witnesses and Kirill Kokorin. The court noted that some testimonies had not been given in the verdict, nor had they been given an assessment in conjunction with other evidence. The decision of the board notes that the description of the criminal act does not comply with the evidence.

As for the fight in the cafe, in which the official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Pak and the director general of NAMI Sergey Gaisin suffered, the court questioned the correctness of the legal assessment of the actions of the convicts. According to the panel of judges, the appeal court did not take into account the role of each of the convicts in causing bodily harm. At the same time, the Moscow City Court, excluding the preliminary conspiracy to commit a crime, did not take into account the explanation of the Supreme Court regarding the sentencing of hooliganism when qualifying the offense.

Mamaev’s lawyer Igor Bushmanov said that now his goal is to achieve the exclusion from the sentence of articles that provide for imprisonment.

“We exclude article 213 (“ hooliganism ”) and reclassify 116 (“ beatings from hooligan motives ”) to 115 part 1 (“ inflicting light bodily harm ”). Paul should not have been in prison. We hope to keep within one meeting, although it may take several, ”Sport-Express quotes Bushmanova.

The lawyer noted that if successful, Mamaev can count on compensation. However, according to the lawyer, the Rostov footballer primarily wants justice.

Alexander Kokorin's lawyer Tatyana Stukalova admitted that she did not expect such a decision of the Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction, and thanked the judicial board for their professional attitude to the case.

“We were surprised at how the court delved into the matter in detail, studied all the details and made an absolutely reasonable decision. It’s joyful to work with such professionals, it hasn’t been so common in our profession recently, ”Ruka told Stukalova.

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Publication by Tatyana Stukalova (@stukalova_official) May 13, 2020 at 5:48 PDT

At the same time, Kokorin and Mamaev remain defendants in a civil lawsuit by TV presenter Olga Ushakova, whose car was damaged during a fight with Solovchuk. It is examined by the Savyolovsky District Court of Moscow. Ushakova seeks compensation of 321 thousand rubles, although in a criminal case she was not recognized as a victim. According to Bushmanov, Mamaev expressed his willingness to single-handedly compensate for all the losses of the TV presenter.