Controversial St. Petersburg businessman sentenced to 12 years in prison

St. Petersburg businessman Mikhail Mirilashvili was sentenced today by the St. Petersburg military court to 12 years in prison to be served in a hard labour colony. He was charged with being involved in the abduction of two people who prosecutors say he thought were involved with kidnapping his father and organizing three shootings outside the Hotel Astoria where Mirilashvili chaired a high-profile international forum on business and investment in St. Petersburg. Mirilashvili sat in jail for over 2 years on charges of kidnapping and forming a criminal organization.