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Five Russia ex-special forces police officers jailed for robbery

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MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - A court in Moscow Thursday handed down 10-16 year sentences for five out of six former officers of the special forces police accused of robbery attacks during their time in service, in 2002-2003.

A RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom that the officers were found guilty of five attacks on cars in which Chinese nationals were transporting their earnings.

Damages are estimated at more than 22 million rubles ($813,146).

One of the defendants, former special police officer Sergei Zhuravchak, pleaded guilty and received a suspended four-year sentence with a five-year probation period for hooliganism.

The other defendants backtracked on their testimonies, saying their statements had been forced.

The judge said, "The court finds these arguments unconvincing. The defense has failed to prove that the defendants had been pressurized."

Apart from robbery, the former officers were found guilty of weapons theft at the Izmailovsky market in eastern Moscow.

The gang, that also included three unemployed men, was broken up prior to parliamentary elections in Russia in December 2003, as part of a campaign to expose police corruption waged by the Kremlin-friendly United Russia party and its leader Boris Gryzlov, then interior minister.

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