It turned out that prosecutor Aleksandr Kondakov has dismissed five of the ten episodes Pasko was charged with. Still he asked the Court to declare Pasko guilty in state treason under article 275 of the Russian Penal code, and to sentence him to nine years of hard labour. This is actually three years below the minimum sentence for state treason.

The defence will give its closing speech on December 17, when it will ask for a full acquittal. On December 18, Pasko will be given the floor to state his last words to the Court. The three judges of the Court will then withdraw for deliberations. They are expected to announce the verdict on Christmas Eve.

An analytic article on the prosecutor’s closing speech will be published on Bellona web tomorrow.