In January 2017, the convict returned to his homelandin France, director of the FC Arsenal fan club, Sergey Gorbachev. He could return to Tula before the new year, but decided to remain in prison until mid-January in solidarity with another convicted Russian.
Euro 2016
During the riots at the European Football Championship, French police detained a bus with four dozen Russian fans. Half of the Russians were released immediately, the second was deported from the country.
Three fans awaited trial. They turned out to be the aforementioned Sergey Gorbachev, as well as Alexei Erunov, director for work with fans of FC Lokomotiv, and Dynamo fans Nikolay Morozov.
The court later sentenced the Russians to real imprisonment for periods ranging from a year to two years.
Gorbachev at the trial
Before the trial, Sergey Gorbachev, nicknamed Brick, appeared second after Alexey Erunov. According to local media, Sergey was relatively calm.
A 33-year-old Tula, among other things, was accused of using weapons. According to the prosecution, Sergey Gorbachev threw a piece of pavement at his opponents.
The prosecutor provided two photographs in which a man in blue shorts was captured in a crowd of fighters. The prosecution stressed that this is enough.
Sergey insisted that he did not attack, butdefended. According to him, among the defenders were both Russian and English fans. The Russian claimed that they were attacked by the French of Arab origin.
The prosecutor in his speech stated that he did not believein this version of events. He insisted that the Russian came to Marseille to fight, so he demanded 30 months in prison for him. Also, the prosecution asked the court to ban Gorbachev from entering the country for two years.
Sergei Gorbachev’s lawyer noted whatthe punishment is too harsh. All doubts must be interpreted in favor of the accused, and the photo does not show him wounding someone. The defense insisted that in this chaos the Russian was just trying to defend himself.
And finally, Gorbachev himself emphasized that the prosecutor presented only incriminating photographs to the court. But he did not show those where the Russian helps the injured English fan.
As a result, the court of Marseille sentenced Tula to eighteen months in prison.
Appeal
Director of the Arsenal fan club Sergey Gorbachev has been in the fan movement for more than ten years. He also represents Tula in VOB - All-Russian Association of Fans.
Therefore, it is obvious that the fans of Tula “Arsenal” could not accept the detention of their leader. They raised money for a lawyer for Gorbachev.
The appeal was filed in October 2016. As a result, Tula was reduced by three months, and the Lokomotiv fan - by six.
In December 2016, the court decided to release Gorbachev, Erunov and Morozov ahead of time and deport them to Russia.
In this regard, information appeared in the media that Gorbachev, like Morozov, could meet the New Year in his native Tula. However, the Arsenal fan asked to be released simultaneously with Erunov.
По прибытии двух российских болельщиков на родину they were greeted with applause. The questions of journalists about the future plans of the men answered that the main thing is the family, but in a couple of years they do not exclude a trip to France.
