MOSCOW, December 3 (RAPSI) - Leading Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko was found guilty Tuesday in connection with the acid attack that left Bolshoi Artistic Director Sergei Filin with third degree burns to his face and eyes, RAPSI reports live from the courtroom.
Yury Zarutsky, the accused attacker, and Andrei Lipatov, the driver, likewise received guilty verdicts.
Specifically, the judge stated that Dmitrichenko organized the attack.
The judge went on to state, "Dmitrichenko, Lipatov, and Zarutsky committed an offense under Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (on causing grave bodily harm."
Prosecutors had previously requested the following sentences for each: Dmitrichenko – 9 years, Zarutsky – 10 years, and Lipatov – 6 years.
Filin suffered third-degree burns to his face and eyes on January 17 when unknown assailants attacked him with what is believed to have been concentrated acid. Shortly after the attack, a Bolshoi Theater spokesperson confirmed that Filin had received various threats.
Three men were arrested in March.
Filin returned to Moscow last September after six months of treatment in a German hospital. He has undergone more than 20 eye surgeries, and German doctors said that Filins eyesight had improved significantly. After losing over 90 percent of his vision in his left eye and becoming totally blind in his right eye, 80 percent of the vision in his left eye has been restored, and he can distinguish big objects with his right eye.
Filin suggested that the aim of the attack may have been to remove him from his position as artistic director and to destroy the prestigious Moscow ballet company's reputation.