Russia's Former Chief Narcologist Released Early
On January 28, a court released Russia«s former chief narcologist Evgeny Brun from further serving his sentence in a penal colony. The basis was an illness incompatible with detention in places of deprivation of liberty, as a participant in the proceedings told the RIA Novosti agency.
In October 2024, Brun was sentenced to seven years in a standard-regime penal colony for fraud involving tenders for the supply of test systems.
“The court released Evgeny Brun from serving his prison sentence due to an illness incompatible with being in places of deprivation of liberty,” the agency quoted the source as saying.
The court established that prices for test containers for drug analyses were inflated, leading to the embezzlement of over 138 million rubles (approximately $1.5 million at current rates) from the Moscow Department of Healthcare. Four other people were convicted in this case:
- Former vice president of the Russian Narcological League, Vladimir Yakushev, received 7 years in a penal colony.
- Former head of the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Narcology, Sergei Koporov — 4 years.
- Head of the center«s trade department, Lyudmila Eremenkina, and general director of the company »Microtechnologies«, Sergei Vasilyev — 6 years each.
All the defendants were fined from 400,000 to 1.5 million rubles (approximately $4,300 to $16,300 at current rates), and they did not admit guilt.
