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Medvedev pardons man accused of beating policeman

In passing the resolution on pardoning Mokhnatkin, the president was guided by the principles of humaneness, according to Medvedev's decree
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, April 23 (Itar-Tass) — President Dmitry Medvedev pardoned Sergei Mokhnatkin, convicted in the summer of 2010 for beating a police officer during an unsanctioned rally.

In passing the resolution on pardoning Mokhnatkin, the president was guided by the principles of humaneness, according to Medvedev's decree.

In June 2010, Moscow's Tverskoi court sentenced Mokhnatkin to 2.5 years in prison after finding him guilty of breaking a police officer's nose during the unsanctioned rally in Triumfalnaya Square on December 31, 2009. Two months later, the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict.

Mokhnatkin insisted on his innocence. He claimed he had intervened to defend a woman who was a passer-by that had not participated in the rally. He also said he had never punched the policeman. The policeman might have been injured when he was part of the cordon force during the picket, Mokhnatkin said.