Egyptian sentenced to 1.5 years in Russia for desecrating memory of war victims

Egyptian national Mohammed Montafer, who urinated in the Eternal Flame at the Alley of Heroes in Volgograd on New Year's night, was sentenced to 1.5 years in a penal colony. 

The state prosecution insisted on three years in a penal colony, whereas the defense requested to mitigate the sentence to two months.

In the midst of New Year holidays, a drunk 29-year-old Egyptian man was walking with friends in the center of Volgograd. He climbed up onto the pedestal and relieved himself in the Eternal Flame in the Valley of Heroes. A man was passing by at that moment, who made a remark to the foreign visitor. The Egyptian assaulted and beat the man. Other witnesses of the incident called the police, who arrested the malefactor.

"Having sobered up, he expressed remorse and explained that he was celebrating the New Year drinking absinthe with champagne and was thus not aware of what he was doing," officials said.