Sleeping Justice: a judge 'dozes off before sentencing a man to five years jail'

Secretly filmed footage of judge Yevgeniy Makhno shows him snoozing as the defendant's lawyer addressed the court in Blagoveschensk, it is claimed. 

The footage captured by one of the accused's relatives on a mobile phone lasts for 33 seconds during which the Blagoveschensk city court judge does not open his eyes and appears to be dozing peacefully.

It is understood that colleagues of the judge say the footage has been manipulated but an internal investigation is underway.
 

Human rights activist Vladislav Nikitenko - who said he was handed the footage by relatives of the man convicted and sent to jail for five years for a financial crime - claims he can prove it is genuine, and called for a full-scale investigation.

'It is a horrible fact, in my opinion,' he said.

He also alleged the judge took naps at other points in the same trial. Images from a different trial are said to show him using an iPhone.

The judge remains on the bench at the court despite media coverage in Russia of the footage. 

The identity of the jailed man was not released. Nor were the precise details of his conviction. 

Sleeping Justice