MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - Journalist Yulia Pelekhova, given a 7.5-year suspended sentence by Moscow's Tverskoi court Monday after she was found guilty of extortion, said Monday she would appeal the verdict.
Pelekhova, who was released from custody after the verdict was read, and her attorney asked the court to acquit her.
"I still affirm that the criminal case against me was trumped up and there was no corpus delicti in my actions," she said. "I will certainly appeal the verdict, as I am not guilty, I just was set up," Pelekhova told reporters Monday after being released from custody.
Entrepreneur Oksana Tokareva said that Pelekhova, a journalist for an Internet publication, had extorted $100,000 from her. In exchange, Tokareva said, Pelekhova promised to give up the idea of going public with compromising information about her.
In August 2004, the Tverskoi court found Pelekhova guilty and sentenced her to 7.5 years in a general-security prison. In November 2005, the court granted an appeal to overturn the sentence against Pelekhova.
At a hearing, Tokareva said she had met Pelekhova in January-February 2002, when the journalist was interviewing her on a criminal case linked to a Russian bank. Tokareva said that in December 2003 the accused had told her that she had information compromising the entrepreneur, threatening to publish it and send it to prosecutors.
In mid-January 2004, Tokareva filed a petition with a Moscow economic crime department, and Pelekhova was detained January 28 while taking part of the $100,000.
On January 30, 2004 the court sanctioned Pelekhova's arrest.
