President of Chechnya will not evidence at the trial on Israilov's murder

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov will not go to Vienna to the trial on the murder in Austria of his former bodyguard Umar Israilov. This was stated by Andrei Krasnenkov, Kadyrov's advocate. In his opinion, the investigation has no proofs of President's involvement in the murder. However, the human rights activists, engaged in monitoring the litigation, are convinced that Kadyrov shall evidence and point to strong arguments present in case materials.

Mr Krasnenkov expressed regret that the Austrian judge Friedrich Forsthuber listened and followed the defendants. "Kadyrov won't go there; he has nothing to do there. Inspectors have all the data in hand and not a single proof of involvement of Ramzan Akhmatovich to what happened," the portal "UznaiVsyo" (Know Everything) quotes the lawyer.

According to his version, Kadyrov's summoning is just an attempt to make a show out of the trial. He added that the Russian Prosecutor's Office, where the request to summon Kadyrov to Vienna will be considered, will not be able to force the head of Chechnya to Austria. "They can only offer him to go there; but he wouldn't go," said the lawyer.

Marek Svoboda, head of the organization "People in Need", said, on behalf of the Coalition of Human Rights Organizations, which sent its monitoring mission to Vienna to monitor the litigation on Israilov's case, said that Ramzan Kadyrov shall testimony at the trial in Vienna.

"Russian authorities should cooperate with the Austrian judiciary; in particular, President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov shall testify in the ongoing trial on Israilov, because there is strong evidence in the case indicating that Chechen authorities were involved in the crime," said Marek Svoboda.

"This is a landmark trial," believes Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). "It sheds light on the system of violence and impunity, created by Ramzan Kadyrov. If Russia decides to cooperate with judicial authorities of Austria, it will open the door to the process of responding for crimes. If Ramzan Kadyrov rejects the invitation of the court, Russia will once again demonstrate that she is not interested in justice."