MOSCOW — A Moscow court Tuesday sentenced Pavel V. Dmitrichenko, the former Bolshoi Ballet Theater soloist, to six years in a penal colony for ordering an acid attack in January that nearly blinded the theater’s artistic director, Sergei Filin.
“We had hoped it would be less,” his father, Vitaly Dmitrichenko, said as he left court.
The case had exposed one of the worst scandals in the Bolshoi’s history. Although the verdict marks the end of a painful trial for the storied theater, turmoil still reigns at the Bolshoi, as sharp criticism of the ballet troupe under Filin’s leadership has undermined its attempts to project an image of stability since the attack.
In advance of Tuesday’s ruling, the Izvestia newspaper published an open letter from 150 of Dmitrichenko’s supporters in the Bolshoi that called for a not-guilty verdict. The letter asked the court to examine all the elements of the case “because it is impossible not to take into account the extremely complicated and painful situation in the ballet of the Bolshoi Theater, which, unfortunately, is no longer a secret to anyone.”
Prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Dmitrichenko, who they said was motivated by revenge for Filin’s denial of key roles to Dmitrichenko and his common-law wife, Anzhelina Vorontsova.
--more--"
Related:
Police hold 3 in acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet director
Related: Russia Says Terrorism Means Tourism
