A Russian judge has resigned after a video has surfaced of him asleep during a trial. Reuters reported that during that trial the judge sentenced the defendant to five years in a penal colony.
The Russian justice system has a high rate of conviction and some were outraged to see the video of Judge Yevgeny Makhno sleeping during a defense lawyers speech in court.
"The Judges Qualification Panel accepted Makhno's resignation from his judge's post," judge and panel member Valentina Pozharskaya told state news agency RIA Novosti according to Reuters.
The film was reportedly shot in the town of Blagoveshchensk and was shot in August.
"The footage, which was apparently filmed in August of 2012, shows Mr Makhno sitting in what looks like a court room with his eyes closed and his head slumped to one side," reported The BBC
The man who was sentenced to five years of hard labor will have a new trial on February 14 after an appeal was made.
In another video posted, the judge is looking at his cell phone with his head on looking down, drooping.
One of the clips was viewed over 75,000 times in a few days. The BBC reported that the video was posted in January by Valdislav Nikitenko, local activist and legal aid of the man sentenced to five years of hard labor, Andrey Nalyotov.
Makhno denies falling asleep at the hearing. However, an internal inspection at the Blagoveschchensk city court did confirm that Makhno was the man in the videos but there is no absolute proof that he was actually asleep.
Makhno, who resigned, will be able to be re-instated after he retakes some exams, reported The BBC
"Russia's justice system has been in the spotlight recently over several high-profile court cases including the trial of punk protest collective Pussy Riot.
The band's three members were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after they performed an anti-Putin prayer in Moscow's main cathedral in 2012, which Russian and foreign commentators called excessive," reported Reuters.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
