MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court dismissed an appeal of Russian nationalist Maxim Martsinkevich against a 10-year sentence he had received for robbery and hooliganism, the court’s press service told RAPSI on Friday.

However, the court changed sentence for two other defendants. A 9-year sentence of Alexander Shankin, a member of Restruct movement established by Martsinkevich, reduced to 8 years. Yelizaveta Simonova, who had been sentenced to nearly 3 years in penal colony, was released in courtroom due to expiration of limitation period. Sentence of other defendants was upheld.

Moscow’s Babushkinsky District Court convicted and sentenced Martsinkevich on December 29.  His associate, a leader of the St. Petersburg cell of Restruct movement established by Martsinkevich, Mikhail Shalankevich received a 6-year prison term but was released due to the time served in detention.

The case was reconsidered as in May 2018 the Moscow City Court overturned a specific part of the defendant’s 10-year prison term concerning robbery and hooliganism and ordered the case review. The court also mitigated sentence for three associates of Martsinkevich, who were also defendants in the case. Dmitry Sheldyashev and Alexander Shankin were sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in a penal colony while Roman Maksimov received 4 years and 10 months.

In June 2017, the Babushkinsky District Court found Restruct movement leader Martsinkevich guilty of inciting hatred and enmity, hooliganism, robbery and property destruction. Ten members of the movement were sentenced to prison terms varying from 3 to 10 years.

According to case documents, under pretense of drug interdiction, the group attacked people in 2013-2014 in Moscow using electro shockers, gas sprayers and metallic pipes, leaving several people traumatized and one person dead.

Martsinkevich, one of the more well-known Russia nationalists, has a history of clashes with the law. In 2014, he was sentenced to five years in prison for publishing extremist content on the Internet.

He has already been convicted of publishing online a video of staging an execution of a “Tajik drug dealer” and extremist statements. He has received 3.5 years in prison in two cases taken together.