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Convicted ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko to be fired from Bolshoi Theatre

Pavel Dmitrichenko was convicted of ordering an acid attack on Sergei Filin

MOSCOW, March 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Bolshoi Theatre’s ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, convicted of ordering an acid attack on Sergei Filin, the ballet troupe’s artistic director, will be fired from the theatre, Bolshoi’s spokesperson Katerina Novikova told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Although a guilty verdict on Filin’s case entered into force on March 6, the appellate committee considered it possible to re-qualify the indictment and soften punishment for the convicts.

The court has reduced prison terms to contractor Pavel Dmitrichenko from six to five and a half years in jail; perpetrator Yuri Zarutsky - from nine to ten years; driver Andrei Lipatov — from 4 to 2 years.

“Pavel Dmitrichenko will be fired from the Bolshoi Theatre in execution of the court ruling and in compliance with Russian laws,” Novikova said, adding the theatre’s leadership was refraining from comments on the court’s decision.

However, Dmitrichenko’s lawyer Sergei Kadyrov pledged to continue seeking acquittal for his client.

People’s Artist of Russia Sergei Filin came under an acid attack on January 17, 2013. He was taken to hospital with severe burns to his eyes and neck and has undergone about 30 eye surgeries in Russia and Germany.