It’s not every day that you see a story like this. BBC News online is reporting that a Russian farmer has been convicted for “the unlawful construction and storage of weapons [.]” The weapons in question were homemade land mines put in a private garden to protect a potato crop from vandals and “thieves”. For this crime the potato farmer, Alexander Skopintsev, 73, “from the eastern region of Primorye near China’s border” received a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence.
The BBC reports that ‘“Skopintsev testified that he had prepared the explosive devices to protect his garden against thieves,’ regional prosecutors said in a statement reported by RIA-Novosti news agency.” According to RIA-Novosti, Skopintsev made three trip-wire mines “armed with gunpowder and salt to protect his crop (while the BBC described Skopintsev as having a garden, USA Today describes Skopintsev as having a farm—neither published pictures of his property).
Neighbor Stanislav Manoilenko “injured his lip from a blast of salt in the face [according to RIA-Novosti] while walking down a path between adjoining fields [,]” reports the USA Today.
Posted: 02/12/10
