Russian historian specializing in Napoleon who dismembered former student who was his girlfriend has been sentenced to 12 years in prison

Russian historian Oleg Sokolov was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison in St. Petersburg for killing and dismembering his partner, a case that has reopened the domestic violence debate in Russia.

Sokolov “he was fully aware of his actions at the time of the crime”Judge Yulia Maksimenko said when delivering the verdict in court in the former Russian imperial capital. You will serve your sentence in a high security prison after a media court process that lasted over a year.

According to the decision of the Oktiábrski court in St. Petersburg, the Russian historian will spend in prison “twelve years for murder and 1.6 years for illegal possession of weapons”.

The historian’s defense has declared its “disagreement” with the sentence, since it has not ruled on a possible appeal.

Sokolov He was arrested on November 10, 2019. He then pleaded guilty and has been on trial since early June for murder and possession of weapons.

Police pulled him out of the Moika River in a drunken state and found him in his backpack two woman’s arms and a gun. Other fragments of the victim’s body were later found in another stream.

The 63-year-old historian, specialist on Napoleon, from the State University of Saint Petersburg, he quickly confessed to having killed and dismembered one of his former students, Anastassia Echtchenko, 24 years old with whom he shared his life.

He claimed to have committed the murder by accident by shooting him to “stop a flood of insults” during an argument, according to the Ria Novosti news agency.

Sokolov shot his girlfriend three times during a fight and then dismembered her, according to the version of the crime confirmed by Russian justice.

Lawyers for the victim said he premeditated his act. The Russian prosecution had requested 15 years in prison against him.

St. Petersburg State University was questioned for inertia, as Sokolov had previously been accused of violence in 2008.

In Russia, there is still no specific law on gender-based violence, but an estimated 14,000 women die each year in this country at the hands of their partners.

With information from AFP and EFE.