In Karachay-Cherkessia, trial of driver who brought down journalist Bella Ksalova to death will continue on November 10

The first hearing on the case of inflicting grave harm to human health causing death of Bella Ksalova, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, was held on November 8. Ten persons were present - relatives of our deceased colleague, and three friends of the defendant. It became clear at the session that the accused Arsen Abaikhanov was registered at the narcological dispensary since 2007.

Bella's father, Boris Fyodorovich, said that he was shocked by the new information. "I didn't know what to say and do; I was sure that I was familiar with all the case materials. It turned out that a drug addict was the personal driver of the deputy head of the 'Rosprirodnadzor' (Russian Federal Agency for Nature Supervision)," the father was perplexed.

The prosecutor asked the court to sentence the defendant to 2.5 years of imprisonment to be served in a settlement-colony. The defendant's advocate asked the court to appoint the minimum sentence to Abaikhanov - six months conditional imprisonment with a half-year suspension, referring to the fact that the defendant has a small child.

Boris Ksalov, Bella's father, believes that "there is no guarantee that at the moment of the road accident Abaikhanov was under the drug effect. None of inspectors ever had an idea to make a respective forensic examination."

Bella's mother - Suliyat Nazirovna, who acted at the trial as a victim, asked the court to appoint the maximum possible prison sentence as stipulated by the respective article of the Criminal Code.

Judge Islam Gerbekov decided to appoint the continuation of the hearing on November 10.

Ali Magomedovich Kudzhev, head of the "Rosprirodnadzor" in Karachay-Cherkessia, was very much surprised to learn that his enterprise employed a person registered as a drug addict.

Immediately after the accident that caused Bella Ksalova' death, Ali Kudzhev ordered to conduct an internal service investigation. As a result, driver Abaikhanov was sacked. "He had no right to use the service car on the weekend," Ali Kudzhev explained. "The road accident happened on Sunday. Abaikhanov was dismissed and now will get his deserved punishment."

Roman Karpinskiy, an advocate at the Moscow Bar, has noted that the very fact of being registered at the narcological dispensary will not affect the final sentence. "It cannot be considered as an aggravating circumstance - he has his valid driving license. The certificate from the dispensary is no proof that at the time of the accident he was drunk or intoxicated. This certificate may only be a reason to check the driver's evidences."