Dagestan: jury on murder case of Khasavyurt Mayor's nephew dissolved

In Dagestan, on March 1, the day of passing a verdict by the republic's Supreme Court on the murder case of Magomedhabib Umakhanov - nephew of the Mayor of Khasavyurt Saigidpasha Umakhanov - the jury was disbanded, because jurymen had contacts with advocates.

Let us remind you that Magomedhabib Umakhanov was shot dead on April 28, 2009. His Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked by more than 40 shots from different firearms. The attackers managed to disappear.

On the eve of passing the verdict to five defendants, a letter arrived to the court from the MIA saying that jurymen had contacts with defendants' advocates. According to the MIA, one of the jurymen met lawyer Zukhra Isaeva in Buinaksk, and the chief jurymen - in Makhachkala.

The session started with interrogation of jurymen. One of them said that he had not been in Buinaksk for two years and met nobody. Another one confessed that he had met the lawyer in a fixed-route taxi, but they did not talk about the criminal case. Lawyer Isaeva was extremely offended by such accusations and explained to the court that her contact with the chief juryman was that he offered her a place in the overcrowded fixed-route taxi leaving for Buinaksk. In the opinion of the lawyer, at the trial she managed to prove that her client was innocent; thus, he had no need to meet jurymen.

Besides, she expressed her confidence that the letter from the MIA appeared because of another case: Isaeva is defending a serviceman Sergey Zhilin, suspected of murdering Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan Adilgerei Magomedtagirov; and she only recently returned from Vladikavkaz, where her client is kept in custody.

Having listened to explanations of jurymen and the lawyer, Judge Magomed Magomedov asked the parties to express their opinions, whether this jury can be trusted and it is possible to go on with the process. The state prosecutor Vadim Latifov demanded to dismiss the jury.

Lawyer Sergey Kvasov asked court to ignore the letter and complete the trial. However, the judge decided to remove the chair of the jury, and since they were less than twelve, he disbanded the whole jury and ruled to start the trial anew.

"It's absolutely clear that the jury was dismissed because the case fell to pieces," said Sergey Kvasov. "I'm disappointed. The whole investigation - both the preliminary and judicial ones - by all means tried to shade the interethnic and inter-bureaucratic problems existing in the region."

The "Kommersant" newspaper writes that the court plans to launch a new investigation on March 15.

Some local residents believe that securities of Alimsoltan Alkhamatov, head of the Khasavyurt District, were involved in conflict with Mayor's nephew, since Alkhamatov's relations with Umakhanov brothers were strained.

According to another version, power agents took part in executing Magomedhabib Umakhanov.