The Foreign Ministry called the life imprisonment of Russian citizen Torden politically motivated

The life imprisonment of Russian citizen Vojislav Torden (Jan Petrovsky) in Finland, who was convicted of alleged war crimes in Ukraine in 2014, is biased and politically motivated. This was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry on March 23.

"We consider this verdict to be biased, politically motivated, and fully reflecting the active and unconditional participation of all branches of the Finnish government, including the judiciary, in the hybrid war unleashed by the "collective West" against Russia," RIA Novosti reported in a statement.

At the same time, it is noted that the Russian Embassy in Helsinki continues to carry out the necessary consular procedures regarding Torden.

The ministry clarified that if the verdict comes into force, the Russian side will have the necessary legal rights that will allow it to take measures to ensure the right to a fair trial for the accused.

Earlier, on March 14, a court in Finland sentenced Torden to life imprisonment. However, lawyer Natalia Malygina clarified that the defense would appeal the verdict. The defense also considers this verdict to be politically motivated. At the same time, law enforcement officers informed the Russian Embassy in Finland about Torden's detention at the request of Kiev back in August 2023.

At the end of January 2024, the Finnish prosecutor's office demanded a suspended sentence for the Russian citizen for violating the ban on entry into the European Union. Ukraine asked Finland to transfer Torden to it, but was refused. In February of the same year, Torden was found guilty of violating the ban on entry into the Schengen area. At the end of October, the Finnish prosecutor's office filed charges against Torden, according to which he could face at least eight years in prison.

In early December, prosecutors in Finland asked for Torden to be sentenced to life in prison for alleged war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The extraordinary trial of the Russian was held in the Helsinki District Court. Prosecutors have filed charges against him for five war crimes. The Russian's lawyer, Heikki Lampela, said his client would deny all charges.