Most Russians said they were negative about the quick release of Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, former Defense Ministry property manager who was granted parole on Tuesday after spending only a month in penal colony, a survey revealed on Thursday.
According to a poll, conducted by the independent Levada center, 45 percent of Russians were “distinctly negative” and further 25 percent “rather negative” about Vasilyeva's release. In addition, 61 percent of respondents said that her sentence was “too light.”
The poll was conducted among 800 respondents with the margin of error not exceeding 4.1 percent.
According to another Levada center survey, Vasilyeva's case appeared to be on the list of top 10 news items that Russians remembered from the past month.
Vasilyeva, 36, was charged with fraud, embezzlement and exceeding her authority. The prosecution claimed she was responsible, among other things, for selling real estate belonging to the Defense Ministry and taking 5 percent off each deal.
Russia's human rights ombudsman Ella Pamfilova issued a statement Tuesday, saying she would urge President Vladimir Putin to instruct the Security Council to investigate the details of Vasilyeva's release and all the decisions made in her case.
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