13:21, 7 March 2017

Sevastidi’s defence intends to cancel the verdict

The defence of Oksana Sevastidi, a resident of Sochi, convicted on a charge of treason and pardoned today by President of Russia, insists on her complete innocence and will seek a review of the sentence, her advocate Evgeny Smirnov has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 3, 2016, Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for sending an SMS to her friend to Georgia in 2008, in which she confirmed that she had seen the transportation of military vehicles in direction of Abkhazia. Oksana Sevastidi herself expressed her disagreement with the charge and the verdict. In February, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" recognized Oksana Sevastidi as a political prisoner and called on to cancel the verdict. On March 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on pardoning Oksana Sevastidi.

"We welcome the president's decision to pardon her, but we still intend to continue seeking for a review of the verdict with the aim to get an acquittal," The “Interfax” quotes Mr Smirnov as saying.

The advocate has stated that Sevastidi was "released, but not recognized innocent". "We insist on her complete innocence," he has added.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.