ST. PETERSBURG, April 2 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) — The Board of Appeals for Criminal Cases of the St. Petersburg City Court overturned two sentences due to the fact that the principles of publicity had been breached during the consideration of the cases, and it was established that these breaches were irreparable, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts informs RAPSI on Friday.

The decisions concern two criminal cases that were examined in district courts. In one case, the defendant was sentenced to 6 years in prison for possession of marijuana and hashish, in the second case, a St. Petersburg resident was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for possession and transfer of explosives and a fire-conducting cord.

These two sentences were overturned on the grounds of violation of the principles of publicity, what created a precedent in the legal practice in the city. In the drug possession case, there were no other grounds for canceling the sentence, except for violation of the principles of publicity, head of the press service Darya Lebedeva told RAPSI.