Russian soldiers sentenced for Smolensk credit card theft
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.09.2013 15:10
Four Russian soldiers have been sentenced in connection with the theft of credit cards from a victim of the 2010 Smolensk air disaster.
Aftermath of Smolensk crash: photo - wikipedia
One of the young conscripts, Sergei Syrov, was given a two-year sentence in a penal colony by the military court in Smolensk, while the remaining three defendants were handed down suspended sentences ranging from twenty months to two years.
The four conscripts had been assigned to guard the terrain of the crash site at Smolensk's military airport in the wake of the April 2010 disaster that killed 96 Poles, including President Lech Kaczynski.
However, it later transpired that 59,000 roubles (1354 euro) were removed from accounts belonging to Andrzej Przewoznik, former head of Poland's state-backed Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites (ROPWiM).
The money was taken via several credit cards in Przewoznik's wallet. According to the court, Syrov found the wallet amid the debris, and on discovering PIN numbers on a sheet of paper, approached the other three defendants, who agreed to share money that could be withdrawn using the cards.
Syrov apparently tried to withdraw more money, but he was prevented from doing so by limits on daily transactions.
The delegation of President Lech Kaczynski had flown to Smolensk to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War II Katyn Crime. (nh)
Source: IAR