VLADIVOSTOK, February 4 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian jury handed down guilty verdicts Tuesday to two men who were members of the notorious Primorsky Partisans group that waged a war against law enforcement officers in 2009 and 2010 in the country’s Far East.
Roman Savchenko, 21, was found guilty of the murder of a policeman, and Alexander Kovtun, 24, was found guilty of being an accomplice to murder. The two men opened fire on police officers who stopped the car in which they were traveling in 2010, the jury heard.
The Primorsky Partisans formed in 2009 and killed two police officers and injured several others before they were cornered in the border city of Ussuriisk after a massive manhunt. In a video filmed before their capture, they said their “guerilla campaign” was a response to abuse of authority, brutality and corruption among law enforcement officials.
Two members of the group committed suicide rather than be captured. The trial of the remaining six, who face a string of charges, began in January 2013. All six deny the murder charges against them.
