MOSCOW, June 9 (RAPSI) - Former Tomsk Mayor Alexander Makarov convicted of abuse of office and taking bribes has been released on parole, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.

Makarov has already left prison, according to Olga Khindanova, the official representative of the Irkutsk Regional Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

A criminal case was opened against Makarov in December 2006. The Tomsk Regional Court found Makarov guilty of abuse of office and taking bribes and sentenced him to 12 years in prison on November 15, 2010. He was expected to spend about nine years in prison, taking into account the time he spent in the pre-trial detention center and his six-month home arrest. In October 2011, the Supreme Court of Russia reduced his sentence by four months. Makarov was to be released in 2019.

On September 3, 2015, the Kuibyshev District Court in Irkutsk granted parole for Makarov.