The defense lawyer will appeal against the suspended sentence handed down for former Moscow director of the Ukrainian Literature Library, Natalia Sharina, after the Meshchansky Court of Moscow found her guilty of extremism and misusing the library’s money.
“We will definitely appeal the verdict,” Sharina’s lawyer and Team 29 chief Ivan Pavlov said.
Sharina called the verdict political.
“This case is political. I have worked as a librarian for 35 years. Apparently someone is keen on ruining the library. I feel sorry for the library,” Sharina said.
“There was not a single extremist book in the library. The 16 extremist books were planted,” she said.
For her part State Prosecutor Lyudmila Balandina told Interfax that she will not appeal the verdict.
“We are pleased with the verdict,” Balandina said.
On June 5 the Meshchansky Court of Moscow found Sharina guilty of extremism and misusing the library’s funds and handed her a four-year suspended sentence.
The law enforcement officers conducted searches at the Ukrainian Literature Library on October 28, 2015, following which library director Sharina was detained. A criminal case on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and enmity and violating human dignity was initially opened against her. Investigators believe that the library offered visitors the works of Dmytro Korchynsky, which were qualified as extremist materials and banned in Russia.
The number of materials declared extremist and banned in Russia that the library offered later grew to almost 20.
On April 5, 2016, Sharina was charged with gross embezzlement. Investigators believe that Sharina spent funds intended for the salaries of the library’s lawyers on her own defense in the first extremism criminal case in 2011-2013. Another charge of embezzlement was later brought against her.
According to the prosecutor, the library director, “in violation of law organized the obtaining of payment orders from the settlement account of the Department of Finance for Moscow to a settlement account of the Moscow City Bar Association in the total amount of 297,000 rubles” and embezzled 2.8 million rubles, having on paper hired the acquaintances of her lawyer, transferred salary to them and provided them with health insurance. Thus, she inflicted damage in the amount of 2.8 million rubles.
