A Russian man who beat a convicted paedophile to death after "saving" two young boys has been convicted of murder.
Vladimir Sankin, 34, faces up to 15 years of jail after he was accused of using disproportionate force on the paedophile.
But the decision has caused outcry from the public, which claims Sankin is a "hero" for saving the two young boys.
The 34-year-old, who will be sentenced next week, was passing by outside the Ufa apartment where paedophile Vladimir Zaitsev resided. Zaitsev had previously been jailed for sex attacks against children.
Two boys, aged 10 and 14, had been lured to his property, where he force-fed them alcohol and told the teenager to strip naked or face being killed, local media reports.
The younger boy escaped and alerted Sankin, who ran to the scene and freed the 14-year-old.
But further investigation alleged the boys were already freed before Sankin beat Zaitsev to death.
Sankin's case has caused uproar from the public. A petition calling for the charges against him to be dropped has been signed by 70,000 people.
His lawyer Shota Gorgadze described him as "a simple guy who could not pass by a paedophile and protected children from this rapist."
"The earth depends on such ordinary men," he said. "We will prove that such men should be rewarded, not imprisoned."
