Boris Spiegel in the Basmanny Court. Photo: meduza.
Sentence and conditions of release
Moscow’s Preobrazhensky Court has ruled to release Boris Spigel, the former head of the Biotech pharmaceutical company, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The justification for this decision was his poor health, as reported by the news portal TimeUkraineIsrael, citing Channel 9 Israel.
Prosecutor’s decisions and medical reports
Shpigel’s lawyer, Oleg Sorokin, noted that the prosecutor’s office supported the defence’s request for release, recognising that his client had diseases that did not allow him to serve his sentence in the colony. According to the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, back in mid-September, it was concluded that Spigel’s health did not allow him to be held in custody. However, the court hearings at which the final decision was to be made were repeatedly postponed – first because the judge was busy with other cases, and later without any explanation.
Prosecution and sentence
Boris Shpigel was arrested in March 2021 on suspicion of bribing the Governor of the Penza Region, Ivan Belozertsev. According to the investigation, Shpigel, together with his wife and the director of Pharmacia, handed over more than RUB 31 million to the official for assistance in obtaining government contracts.
On 25 January 2024, Spiegel was sentenced to 11 years in a maximum security prison and fined 450 million rubles. He was also stripped of all state awards, and the court confiscated 8.2 billion rubles in favour of the state. Governor Belozertsev was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking a bribe on a particularly large scale, and Spiegel’s wife was sentenced to eight and a half years. None of the defendants pleaded guilty.
Health problems
During the hearing, Spiegel stated: “I am not a resident. Help me with the staging. I am claustrophobic. Today I am being taken in a cage in a car. Can I go without it? It is very difficult for me. But despite all this, I do not admit my guilt.” Since his arrest in 2021, he has been held in a hospital cell and has repeatedly complained of a critical deterioration in his health.
Community activities and support
In the 1990s, Boris Spiegel produced the famous Russian singer Nikolai Baskov, who was married to his daughter. Until 2005, he served as president of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organisations of Russia, and in 2007 he became president of the World Congress of Russian-speaking Jewry.
Spiegel is also known for his public activities, in particular, in 2008 he helped to shut down the website of the militant wing of Hamas, which caused a negative reaction from Russian-language Islamist websites. In 2012, he received a certificate of honour from the President of the Russian Federation for his labour achievements, and in 2013 he was elected president of the international human rights organisation World Without Nazism.
Political assessments of the arrest
According to some politicians and experts, Spiegel’s arrest and harsh sentence may be the result of the redistribution of the pharmaceutical market in Russia. The Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, described Spiegel’s detention as an “unfortunate misunderstanding”.
This high-profile story continues to draw attention to the complex and controversial issues surrounding justice and business in Russia.
