«Kommersant”: the court will review the verdict of the accomplice of the convicted deputy Belousov Margarita Butakova and her son-in-law, ex-deputy of the State Duma Vadim Belousov, accused of receiving a bribe in the amount of more than 3 billion rubles. The lawyers managed to prove that at the time of the trial she was insane
Margarita Butakova
The First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction will review the sentence handed down to Margarita Butakova, who helped her son-in-law, former State Duma deputy from the Fair Russia party Vadim Belousov, to receive a bribe of 3,253 billion rubles. She was sentenced to four years of probation. This is reported by “Kommersant” with reference to the participants in the process.
81-year-old Butakova’s lawyers managed to convince the judges that she could not fully defend herself in court due to her advanced age and the consequences of COVID-19. In this regard, she was assigned a second psychiatric examination, the results of which will make it clear whether she will continue to be tried or will be treated. If Butakova’s illness is confirmed, the reprimand will be automatically canceled for both her and her son-in-law, who was sentenced to ten years in prison.
According to investigators, from 2010 to 2014, Belousov and Butakova, together with the ex-governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevich and others, received a bribe from the road construction holding for patronage in the distribution of state orders for road maintenance totaling more than 3 billion rubles. Yurevich was put on the international wanted list, and Belousov disappeared before his sentencing. He pleaded not guilty.
Butakova’s mental health, according to her defenders, was undermined in December 2020 with the start of the trial, as well as after the coronavirus was transferred. At the same time, the lawyers do not deny that she was in her right mind during the commission of the crimes incriminated to her. During the trial, Butakova did not understand the questions asked to her and was confused in her testimony. In addition, according to her defenders, she was registered at a neuropsychiatric dispensary in Chelyabinsk.
As Belousov’s lawyer Vyacheslav Plahotniuc told the Kommersant, Butakova’s inadequate testimony given to her due to mental illness not only prevented her from defending herself, but also predetermined the harsh sentence imposed on Belousov. Plahotniuc noted that he did not know in what format the retrial would take place if doctors found Butakova insane.
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