Russia seeks lengthy prison term for ex-governor

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have requested a lengthy prison term for a former regional governor who is standing trial on murder charges and whose arrest two years ago prompted weeks-long mass protests. The prosecutor has asked a court in the Moscow region to sentence Sergei Furgal, former governor of Russia’s far eastern Khabarovsk region, for 23 years on the charges of murder, attempted murder and illegal arms trafficking. A jury panel earlier this month found Furgal guilty on all counts. Furgal, a former businessman, was arrested in July 2020 on suspicion of involvement in murders and taken to jail in Moscow. He denied the charges. Thousands of his supporters protested his arrest for weeks in the city of Khabarovsk.