Pregnant Mother May Be Freed Friday
A public outcry has prompted the Samara Regional Court to move up the hearing to today in the case of Yulia Kruglova, a pregnant mother of four who was jailed in July and is seeking early release.
Kruglova, 36, was convicted of embezzling 16 million rubles as head of the Tolyatti branch of a Dutch-owned insurance company, Oranta. She was sentenced to three years in prison, but both the prosecution and defense have asked to waive or suspend the sentence under a legal provision allowing leniency for mothers of underage children.
Svetlana Bakhmina, a former YUKOS lawyer who is spearheading a campaign to free Kruglova, said that the appeals hearing, initially scheduled for September 17, was moved to Friday because Kruglova is to undergo a Caesarean section on September 20.
Bakhmina, herself a mother of young children who was denied leniency when jailed on politically tinged charges in 2006, said that it meant the case would receive less coverage because media may not be aware of date change.