No eyewitnesses or victims in the Nalchik attack case have appeared in court

Today neither the eyewitnesses nor the victims in the criminal case involving the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, have attended the Kabardino-Balkarian Supreme Court's session. The only eyewitness brought to the court refused to enter the court session room.

After a three week adjournment, the Kabardino-Balkaria Supreme Court resumed the hearing of the case concerning the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005. Under the court rules, today three victims and an eyewitness were to be interviewed for evidence on the "Lily-of-the-Valley" episode. However they have failed to attend the court session.

The victims, officers of the law enforcement authorities of the city of Volgograd, who were engaged in active service as part of the attached units operating in Kabardino-Balkaria, send by fax the medical certificates confirming their inability to appear in court due to health reasons. The third victim, Vladimir Kuznetsov, the father of the killed officer who had served in the Volgograd OMON (Special Task Militia Detachment) unit, Dmitry Kuznetsov, also submitted a medical certificate confirming that he was undergoing treatment in hospital.

Both victims made the following request: "I request the court to conduct the court proceedings in my absence... to make public my evidence given at the preliminary investigation as I fully support it."

The opinions of the court proceedings participants concerning the proposal to restrict the court to hearing the available evidence were divided. The prosecution supported the victims while the defence lawyer and the defendants strongly opposed the proposal.

"I want each eyewitness to give evidence live," demanded Mironov, one of the defendants.
 
Sokmyshev, another defendant, supported him by saying that questioning the previous eyewitness revealed considerable discrepancies in their evidence given during the preliminary investigation and in court.

The court ruled to summon two victims from Volgograd later and to hear the evidence submitted by the father of the late Dmitry Kuznetsov.

Today two officers of the Ministry of the Interior of the RKB were summoned to court. One of them failed to appear in court due to being on a business trip while the other one was brought to the court after the break but refused to enter the court session room.

Galina Gorislavskaya, chairperson, said that the court would rule to bring this eyewitness to the court.

At the today's session, the court also discussed the state of health of defendant Kaziyev. The chairperson read the conclusion issued by the UFSIN (Administration of the Federal Service for Execution of Sentences) stating that the Kaziyev's state of health was "relatively satisfactory."

Kaziyev said that during the three week adjournment of the court proceedings he was placed in the UFSIN hospital but did not receive the required treatment and again requested to be admitted to the AIDS Centre for treatment.