Just now, in the trial over the "poster case," the deputy prosecutor of the city of Vladimir requested a three-year suspended sentence for ACF employee Georgy Alburov.
I noticed that some people on Twitter reacted like this: well, a suspended sentence is good.
I want to tell you that a suspended sentence is not a good thing, especially when the person is completely innocent and the case is entirely fabricated.
But let's just look at what people get three-year suspended sentences for in Russian judicial practice:
A city mayor received a three-year suspended sentence for a 1 million ruble bribe.
The head of a penal colony in Kopeysk, who organized an extortion scheme targeting inmates, received a three-year suspended sentence (it was a high-profile case).
A local police officer who bought spice received a three-year suspended sentence.
The head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug received a three-year suspended sentence for embezzlement on an especially large scale.
The head of Tver Region, for embezzling 463 million rubles, was sentenced to three years suspended.
Volgograd officials who extorted a bribe received three-year suspended sentences each.
And so on. Google "three years suspended" and you'll find plenty of material for comparison.
A three-year suspended sentence is a hook hanging over an innocent person, when at any moment the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) can, whenever it wants, demand that the suspended sentence be converted into a real prison term. I've already had several court proceedings like that, and the next one will be on April 23.
So please don't say, "well, everything is fine." It is not fine, and the very fact that the prosecutor's office is making such a demand is a criminal offense.