21.08 Flooding Negligence Case Sees Ex-Officials Sentenced to Jail
MOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) Three officials working in southern Russia last year when more than 170 people died in flash floods were sentenced to up to six years imprisonment Wednesday for criminal negligence by failing to provide adequate advanced warning to local residents.
A court in Russias Krasnodar Region, where the floods took place, gave the former head of the Krymsk urban district, Vasily Krutko, six years in prison. Former Krymsk Mayor Vladimir Ulanovsky received 3 1/2 years, and the former deputy head ofthe district's emergency response department, Viktor Zhdanov, got 4 1/2 years. Irina Ryabchenko, who headed the nearby village of Nizhnebaksanskaya, avoided jail time with a 3 1/2-year suspended sentence.
The three imprisoned former officials will serve their sentences in prison colony settlements, the least strict form of Russian penal colony where prisoners are allowed to move relatively freely and even go home on vacation.
Lawyers for Krutko and Ryabchenko said that their clients would appeal.
The four officials were removed from their postitions shortly after the floodwater swept through the town of Krymsk overnight in July last year. As well as criminal negligence, the judge also said three of the defendants forged documents after the flooding to try to absolve themselves of legal responsibility.
Those defendants attempted to escape justice by preparing, signing and backdating documents that they believed would free them from accusations, Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russias Investigative Committee, said earlier this week.
The former officials, however, maintained that they had done nothing wrong.
