Verdict in case of Russian footballers to be announced on May 8

Russian footballers

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Moscow's Presnensky court will announce the verdict in the case of Russian footballers Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev accused of hooliganism, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom on Monday.

"The verdict will be announced on May 8 at 2pm Moscow time," the judge said.

On Monday, case prosecutor Svetlana Tarasova asked to sentence Kokorin to 18 months in prison and Mamaev to 17 months in prison. Other defendants in the case - Alexander Protasovitsky and Kirill Kokorin - face prison terms of 17 months and 18 months respectively.

Kokorin and Mamaev were initially charged with hooliganism and battery for their involvement in several brawls in the Russian capital last October. Kokorin’s lawyer announced in December that following a medical examination of their victims the count of 'battery' had been altered to 'premeditated infliction of light bodily injuries'. The count of hooliganism, which stipulates a prison term of up to seven years, remained unchanged. However, the count of premeditated infliction of light bodily injuries stipulates a prison term of up to two years, just like the count of battery.

On October 8, 2018, FC Krasnodar midfielder Pavel Mamaev and FC Zenit striker Alexander Kokorin were reported to be the culprits behind two assaults in downtown Moscow. The first incident took place at around 8:30am Moscow time, when they attacked a driver of a Mercedes parked near the Peking Hotel in Moscow. They beat the man up, in addition to breaking one of the vehicle’s windows and damaging one of the car’s doors. The damaged vehicle belonged to Channel One TV presenter Olga Ushakova.

Following that assault, the gang, made up of Kokorin’s brother Kirill and their friend Alexander Protasovitsky, stopped by at a cafe on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in downtown Moscow, where they proceeded to assault an individual, who turned out to be the director of a department in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Denis Pak. Another individual on hand at the establishment who witnessed the incident, Director of the NAMI State Research Center Sergei Gaisin, tried to calm the young people down, but was struck in the face as well by one of the perpetrators.