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Schoolteacher Faces Second Piracy Trial
Judge Viktor Fedoseev of the Perm territorial court has sent the case of village school director Alexander Ponosov back for retrial at the request of the prosecutor. He is accused of using unlicensed Windows programs in school computers. His case was closed by the Vershchaginsky district court because of its “insignificance” after a variety of high-ranking officials, including former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke out in his defense. The territorial court found that the case was closed in violation of the law. Both the prosecutor and Ponosov are happy with the decision. Ponmosov says he wants to be acquitted.
The Perm territorial court characterized the decision by Vershchaginsky court Judge Vera Barakina in the case as “juridical illiteracy.” The prosecutor insists that only an indictment or acquittal is possible, and not a decision to dismiss. Furthermore, the prosecutor claims that the judge's decision is internally inconsistent. The prosecutor was especially also displeased by a statement in the judge's decision that she had referred to Microsoft's rating in Business Week magazine while making her determination.
Ponosov, director of the Sepych village school, was charged in May 2006 with violations of article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of Authorial and Allied Rights,” maximum punishment: five years in prison) in connection with unlicensed software installed in computers purchased by the school. The prosecutor held that Ponosov caused Microsoft 266,000 rubles in damages.
“I am satisfied,” Ponosov told Kommersant, referring to the territorial court's ruling. “In the second series of my soap opera I am counting on being unconditionally acquitted.” The prosecutor is counting on a different outcome.
www.komersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 28, 2007
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