A driver who caused a high-profile fatal crash in the Siberian city of Irkutsk has been amnestied without serving a single day in prison, local news website irk.ru cited prosecutors as saying Monday.
The 2009 crash elicited outrage around Russia after CCTV footage was released showing the then-28-year-old Anna Shavenkova veering up onto the sidewalk at high speed, crushing two sisters against a wall, before getting out, apparently calmly inspecting her car for damage and then calling her mother, a senior local official. One of the sisters died of her injuries, while the other was left permanently disabled.
Shavenkova was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in 2010, but never served a day behind bars as the sentence was postponed to 2024 because at the time of her trial, she had a newborn child.
Shavenkova has now been pardoned under an amnesty that Russia's parliament approved last month to mark 70 years since the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The two women hit by Shavenkova's car in December 2009 were Yelena Pyatkova, 34, who died in the hospital, and her sister Yulia, then 27, who was left severely disabled by the accident.
Shavenkova, who worked in the local administration, faced allegations that she was protected from a harsher sentence by her influential mother, who served in the region's electoral commission. There was a public outcry over Shavenkova's apparent callousness at the scene of the crash.
"What sort of repentance can we possible talk about here?" Dmitry Pyatkov, the brother of the victims, was quoted as saying Monday by irk.ru. Yulia Pyatkova will seek to get the decision to amnesty Shavenkova overturned, the Vesti television channel reported Monday.
The amnesty, which is expected to impact up to 400,000 people, does not cover those accused of serious crimes, including murder, or those found guilty of causing car accidents in which two or more people died.
Contact the author at h.amos@imedia.ru
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
