A sleeping judge resigns his job after video of him during a court hearing went viral online. Yevgeny Makhno, a judge in the town of Blagoveshchensk, Russia, still denies he was sleeping on the job. However, as the BBC shared on Feb. 1, video shared by a local activist tells another story.
The videos posted by Vladislav Nikitenko, a legal aide of man sentenced to five years under Makhno's watch, posted some clips from August 2012 that show the sleeping judge who resigned. Makhno was shown engrossed in things on his phone at one point, sitting with his head on his chest during another time, and clearly sleeping with his head dropping to the side as well. He may be denying the claims that he slept at the hearing, but the video certainly seems to show otherwise.
The activist and aide who posted the videos is requesting that the Supreme Court in Russia review his client's sentence, claiming that the judge “was not in control of the trial.” The videos have been confirmed to have been of Makhno, but the internal inspection claimed to have not had any proof the judge had fallen asleep during the hearing. Yevgeny Makhno will be able to take some exams and potentially be reinstated as a judge post-resignation.
The videos of the sleeping judge who resigned went viral after being shared on YouTube, turning this one into an international story. If Makhno does get his judge position back, he may want to make an effort to keep his eyes open and the cell phone to his side.
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