a gang extorted money from archaeologists for work in eastern Ukraine

An extortionist, who targeted archaeologists through their work, has been imprisoned for six-and-a-half years. The Mikolayev/Nikolaev District Court had previously convicted him of (and put him on probation for) ‘fraud [мошенничество]’. On the 29th of April 2014, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and sentence, which reflected the extortion and the violation of the conditions of his probation. This is not related to the crisis.

Using ‘physical violence [and] intimidation [физическое насилие, запугивание]’, he and his accomplices ‘extorted a monthly fee of $300-500 from two archaeologists [вымогал с двоих археологов ежемесячную плату в размере 300-500 долларов США]’, because ‘the victims conducted searches for ancient objects, and therefore should pay him money for it [потерпевшие осуществляют поиск старинных предметов, а потому должны платить ему за это деньги]’.

As reported, ‘it is noteworthy that, according to the case file, the investigation did not even establish the defendant’s accomplices, who were involved in the beating and intimidation of victims [Примечательно, что, согласно материалам дела, следствие даже не установило подельников подсудимого, которые причастны к избиениям и запугиванию потерпевших]’.