Furgal: I have never solved issues by murder

The former governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergei Furgal, during the debate of the parties, asked the jury to find him not guilty of organizing and attempted murders of entrepreneurs in the early 2000s, of which he is accused. Sergei Furgal said that he never solved issues with the help of murder, so it is important for him to “wash his name.”

“Business, if it is not criminal, has never been solved by murder. What’s the point if you kill one, another will take his place. I have never resolved issues like this, ”the ex-governor addressed the jury at an off-site meeting of the Lyubertsy City Court in the Moscow Regional Court (quoted by TASS). “It is important for me that there are no doubts about my accusation, it is important to wash my name, which is more precious than any money,” said the former governor of the Khabarovsk Territory.

Two weeks ago, the interrogation of the defendants in the case of Sergei Furgal ended. The criminal case has moved into the stage of debate, they are being heard with the participation of a jury, who will eventually issue a verdict. The investigation asks to recognize the defendant guilty. Sergei Furgal considers the criminal case against himself ordered.

A criminal case against Sergei Furgal was opened in July 2020, which caused a wave of protests from residents of Khabarovsk and other Russian cities. According to investigators, in 2004-2005, being a businessman specializing in the collection and remelting of scrap metal, he ordered the murder of three people who interfered with him. The organizer of the murders, the investigation considers his friend Andrei Karepov, who is associated with organized crime in the region. Sergei Furgal is charged with organizing a criminal community (Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and seven episodes of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

In September 2018, in the gubernatorial elections, Sergei Furgal, the LDPR candidate, beat his opponent from United Russia by a wide margin: he scored 69.6%, defeating former governor Vyacheslav Shport (27.97%). After the arrest of Sergei Furgal, Mikhail Degtyarev, an LDPR candidate, was appointed acting governor of the Khabarovsk Territory. In 2021, he became governor.

More about the case – in the material “The jury was presented with a lack of evidence”.

Anastasia Larina