MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian court martial Thursday sentenced a former captain to 12 years in prison for brutally beating a soldier, who subsequently died of his injuries.
The court, in the Ryazan military garrison, about 150 miles southeast of Moscow, ruled that Vyacheslav Nikiforov serve his sentence in a high-security penitentiary. It also stripped the convict of his rank, and of the right to hold positions of leadership.
The victim, identified only by his surname - Panteleyev - served in a combat engineering unit commanded by Nikiforov. He and a fellow soldier were beaten up August 4 when they were late returning to barracks. Panteleyev died in hospital four days later.
Nikiforov was convicted on charges of abuse of office and of deliberate bodily harm resulting in death. He pleaded guilty to the charges, admitting that he was drunk when he committed the crime.
The Russian military has been plagued by a series of hazing incidents in recent years that have led to the death or injury of low-ranking soldiers. The most notorious case involved a New Year's assault on Private Andrei Sychyov by older servicemen, which led to the amputation of his legs and genitals and provoked an outcry throughout Russia.
