The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in her TelegramThe channel said that the fine for the Russians convicted of collecting beetles in Sri Lanka was paid by the charitable foundation of billionaire Fattah Chodiev.
She thanked the philanthropist, the Russian diplomatic mission in Colombo and Ambassador Yuri Materia for the fact that this “incredible story ended” with the return of fellow citizens to their homeland, and congratulated them on their release.
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“There was everything in this story: the absurdity, from the point of view of those who do not know local laws, accusations, and the incredible complexity of the entire trial, and the struggle of lawyers, and the support of diplomats, and media attention, and the financial assistance of a patron in paying a huge fine,” Zakharova pointed out.
As reported in Telegramchannel of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Ignatenko, a researcher at the Rostov-on-Don Zoo, and two of his friends, Nikolai Kilafyan and Artem Ryabov, have already returned to their homeland.
Earlier it became known that the court of Sri Lanka allowed Russians who had previously been convicted of collecting beetles to leave the country. They paid the previously imposed fine of 14 thousand dollars.
On January 21, the court sentenced scientists Alexander Ignatenko, Nikolai Kilafyan and Artem Ryabov, who collected rare beetles, to a fine. The arrested Russians were forced to plead guilty due to a lot of pressure from the environmental police of Sri Lanka, as well as due to poor health.
Ignatenko was detained at the beginning of 2020, after he collected beetles from the local national park. The Russian claimed that this happened outside his territory and that he was collecting already dead beetles.
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