24 July 2014, 04:18
Dagestani SC starts considering appeal against Zarema Bagavutdinova's verdict
The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan has begun considering the appeal complaint against the verdict passed by the Buynaksk City Court against Zarema Bagavutdinova, an activist of the Dagestani Regional Public Organization (DRPO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy).
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Zarema Bagavutdinova was sentenced by the above court on May 21. She was found guilty of recruiting in November 2011 Mamma Dalgatov, a native of Dagestan, for participation in illegal armed formations (IAFs). The prosecution requested six years of imprisonment for her; and the defence appealed against the verdict.
At the July 23 court session, the defence asked to cancel the verdict against Bagavutdinova. According to her advocate Ziyautdin Uvaisov, who was provided to Bagavutdinova by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the first instance court gave the wrong assessment of testimonies of prosecution witnesses. "Witnesses failed to identify the defendant and gave wrong descriptions of her height, age and complexion," Uvaisov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
He added that the court also failed to assess the contradictions in witnesses' testimonies. Ziyautdin Uvaisov has stated that the witness Makhach Gamzatov refused in court from his testimonies given during the preliminary investigation and explained that he had given them under pressure.
The next session on the case is scheduled for July 30, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by the SC of Dagestan.
Source: CK correspondent
