Ruslan Zinin, Russian national who opened fire against a military commissioner in a draft office in the town of Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, has been charged with terrorism, human rights project Solidarity Zone reports.
At the end of September 2022, Zinin was arrested for an attempt on the life of a law enforcement employee and illegal purchasing and storing of weapons.
Solidarity Zone adds that the charges were not aligned with Zinin’s actions, seeing as a military commissioner is not considered an employee of law enforcement. Thus, the investigation changed the charge to committing a “terrorist attack”.
“Formally, this charge is less heavy — it doesn’t stipulate life imprisonment, unlike the [attempt on the life of a law enforcement employee charge]. However, the issue is that under the ‘terrorism’ article there cannot be a jury trial, a punishment has to be given, at least the lowest possible one, and a part of the appointed term has to be served in a prison. And that’s not even mentioning a bunch of smaller violations of the rights of the accused if they are tried as a ‘terrorist,’” the human rights project explains.
Zinin now faces from 12 to 20 years of imprisonment.