MOSCOW, September 2 (RAPSI) – A prosecutor has asked the Moscow City Court to sentence Alexander Razumov, an alleged recruiter for the Right Sector, a Ukrainian extremist organization that has been prohibited in Russia, to eight years in prison and two years of parole upon his release, RAPSI reported from the courtroom on Wednesday.

The prosecutor pointed to the “exceedingly high level of social gravity of the crimes” committed by the defendant against the peace and security of the country and humanity.

Razumov appealed to the court to mitigate his sentence, citing his positive character reports and the fact that he has a dependent mother. The prosecutor rejected that argument as invalid.

“Before his arrest, the defendant planned to sell his flat where he and his mother lived and to move to Ukraine, where he intended to resume his service for Right Sector. He was not concerned about his mother then,” she said.

A jury has found Razumov guilty of extremism and the attempted recruitment of two police officers. The jurors said he didn’t deserve leniency.

The jury concluded that Razumov encouraged his two police acquaintances, who knew how to handle weapons and special equipment, to fight for Ukraine in the armed conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. He allegedly promised them a monthly salary and additional compensation for killing separatists.

Razumov has pleaded not guilty.

Investigators found that between March and May 2014 Razumov was in Ukraine to undergo military and ideological training with the Right Sector, after which he returned to Russia to find recruits from law enforcement.

Razumov’s lawyer claims that her client was expressing his own opinions about the events in Ukraine via social network posts that were then used as evidence of recruitment attempts.

In November 2014, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Right Sector an extremist group and banned its activity in Russia. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh for the alleged incitement of terrorism.

In January 2015, Right Sector was added to the Russian register of prohibited organizations.