Outrage in Russia as abused sisters charged with premeditated murder.
One evening last summer, Mikhail Khachaturyan decided that his living room wasn't tidy enough, so he summoned his three teenage daughters one by one and doused each with pepper spray.
More than 200,000 people have signed an online petition urging the prosecutors to drop the murder charges, which could land the sisters in prison for up to 20 years. Pressured by conservative family groups, President Vladimir Putin in 2017 signed a law decriminalizing some forms of domestic violence, which has no fixed definition in the Russian legislation. Police routinely turn a blind eye to cases of domestic abuse, while preventive measures, such as restraining orders, are either lacking or not in wide use.
Prosecutors acknowledge the extraordinary violent circumstances that pushed the teenagers to attack and eventually kill their own father, but they insist that Maria, Angelina and Krestina should be tried for murder. The sisters' lawyers argue that they were acting in justified self-defense in circumstances of lasting abuse and life-threatening violence.
Research on Russian criminal court cases compiled by media outlet Media Zona shows that out of 2,500 women convicted of manslaughter or murder in 2016 to 2018, nearly 2,000 killed a family member in a domestic violence setting. Almost 2,000 people have recently posted first-person accounts of abuse and victim blaming to social media, after a young woman facing criminal charges for injuring her alleged rapist launched the hashtag #It'snotmyfault.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia accused of cover-up over lethal submarine fireRussian commentators have challenged officials for not releasing full details ab...
Read more »
Russia will keep deadly submarine fire details secret—saying it's 'perfectly normal' and 'nothing illegal here'Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson said the leader 'has all the information,' but it 'cannot be made public, because this refers to the category of absolutely classified data.'
Read more »
Col. Jacobs: Trump's July 4th plans resemble military parades in Russia, North KoreaCol. Jack Jacobs, MSNBC military contributor and Medal of Honor recipient, breaks down why President Trump's 4th of July plans feel like a campaign event: 'We are a non-tank country,' he said. 'Iran is a tank country. North Korea is -- Russia, China -- those are all tank countries...It's part of [America's] strength, that we don't have to demonstrate our strength in this way.'
Read more »
Peru to host international talks on Venezuela in Lima next monthPeru has invited China, Russia, Cuba, the United States and dozens of other coun...
Read more »
Russia and Saudi Arabia Hold 'Catholic Marriage' with Poem and Badges, Form Enormous Oil Cartel'Uncertainties remain, the challenge gets harder, but the future's bright, now we've a charter,' the OPEC+ poem read.
Read more »
Putin says Russia is ready to talk to the US about arms controlPresident Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to restart discussions with the U.S. over arms control and denied that the collapse of a significant nuclear missile treaty between the two nations would prompt an arms race.
Read more »