A court in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg has sentenced a man to eight years in prison for the murder of an African post-graduate student, local Telegram news channel Vechernie Vedomosti reported on Monday.
Daniil Fomin, 23, was found guilty of murdering François Njelassili, from Gabon, who was pursuing a doctorate in economics at the city’s Ural Federal University. The court did not, however, classify the crime as racially motivated. The prosecutor had requested a sentence of 11 years.
Njelassili was murdered on 18 August 2023 in central Yekaterinburg while he and his friends were eating at a Burger King. According to witnesses, two men approached him and said, “Look, a black man, let’s cut him,” before stabbing him in the armpit and fleeing the scene. Njelassili died from his injuries.