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Former police officer sentenced to two years and there months for threatening witness

Yevseyev was a member of an organized group which had actively obstructed preliminary investigation into the case against the arson masterminds

SYKTYVKAR, November 13 (Itar-Tass) — Former Komi policeman Mikhail Yevseyev was sentenced to two years and there months in a maximum security penitentiary for bribing a witness and forcing him to give a false testimony in the criminal case over the Passazh shopping mall in Ukhta.

The verdict was handed down by the Syktyvkar town court, senior aide to the republic’s prosecutor Natalia Spiridonova told Itar-Tass.

Yevseyev was a member of an organized group which had actively obstructed preliminary investigation into the case against the arson masterminds.

He put putting pressure on Vitaly Kolesnikov, an employee at penitentiary IK-56 in the Sverdlovsk region, where arsonists Alexei Pulyalin and Anton Korostelev are serving life sentences.

At first, he offered Kolesnikov money for false testimony, but after the latter refused, he began to threaten him and his family with physical violence.

During the meeting with him on April 11, 2012, Yevseyev offered him 800,000 roubles for the "right testimony" at the trial. Despite the threats and pressure, Kolesnikov testified as a witness for the prosecution.

The criminal case against Yevseyev was reviewed under special procedure after he signed a plea bargain agreement.

The Supreme Court of Komi continues the trial of the arson case. Twenty-five people died in the fire on July 11, 20025, and another 11 were injured.

The defendants are Valentin Gadzhiyev and brothers Farid and Asret Makhmudov. Their brother Magomed Makhmudov and another suspect are on the wanted list.