04:11, 1 June 2017

Defence of figurants in Caliphate case disagrees with verdicts

The building of the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don. Photo by Konstantin Volgin for "Caucasian Knot"

The defendants sentenced in the case of an attempt to create a Caliphate in Kabardino-Balkaria will appeal against the decision of the court. This was announced by advocate Lyudmila Ragulina. The court could have made a softer decision, believes advocate Yuri Bachurin.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 31, the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the defendants in the case of an attempt to create a Caliphate in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to 6-16 years of imprisonment.

In the case, the prisoners' dock contained Oleg Miskhozhev, Akhmed Balkarov, Islam Shogenov, Ruslan Kipshiev, Kantemir Zheldashev, Arthur Karov, Zaur Tekuzhev, Ruslan Zhugov, and Zalimkhan Tkhamokov, who died during the investigation, and Ibragim Gugov, who was killed during the detention.

Let us remind you that public prosecutor requested the court to sentence the defendants to 20 years of imprisonment. Advocates claimed controversy of the investigation data and requested the court to acquit their clients.

The defence insisted that the defendants confessed to the crime under pressure and torture and that ammunition and drugs were planted to the defendants during their arrests.

The advocates pointed to the fact that prosecutors had no actual evidence: no videos and photos, no mobile phone billing, and no other material evidence, for example, seized extremist literature.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Valery Lyugaev

Source: CK correspondent