Cherkesov's mother calls information about her son voiced out by Putin unreliable

She asserts that the unreliable data about her son Aslan Cherkesov, suspected of murdering Yegor Sviridov, was presented by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on December 21, when he met representatives of football fans.

At the meeting, Mr Putin said, in particular: "What happened with Sviridov is a tragedy; and I repeat once more: the man, who had been twice convicted, if someone doesn't know, is first of all guilty of this murder."

According to the Prime Minister, once the suspect was convicted "for hooliganism accompanied by causing grave bodily harm, and for the second time - for drug dealing, for which he was convicted in 2009." "It is unclear how in 2010 he could appear in Moscow and commit the murder," Mr Putin continued (from the transcript of Prime Minister's speech at the meeting with fans at the Ministry for Sports and Tourism on December 21, 2010).

"What was the source of this information? I'm shocked - after such statements I'll get my second stroke," Sonia Cherkesova was indignant. "My son has never dealt with drugs; for his whole life he was a fierce opponent of them. I have a certificate from the Narcology Dispensary that he had never been registered there."

The Nalchik Narcology Dispensary has confirmed that Cherkesov, Aslan Magomedovich, born in 1984, was not registered there. However, an employee there has added his complete namesake -Aslan Cherkesov - was registered there; however, the guy is two years younger than the suspect of murdering the football fan.

"Maybe," the suspect's mother supposed, "the Prime Minister was provided with information about the other Cherkesov."

This assumption was indirectly confirmed by Aslan's advocate Dmitry Pankov: "The Cherkesov, who is registered at the Nalchik Dispensary, indeed, was earlier convicted for drugs."

Sonia Cherkesova has also refuted the information that her son had two previous convictions. "So much unchecked information was put live on air, how this could happen? The Premier called my son a recidivist, but he'd never been in jail!" she said.

Along with that, the suspect's mother does not deny that her son had committed offences: in 2008, Aslan Cherkesov was prosecuted for complicity in hijacking a car. The court punished him with a fine of 15,000 roubles. In 2009, under the current legislation, his conviction was fully overturned.

In 2009, Aslan Cherkesov again got into the focus of law enforcement agencies: this time he was accused of a fighting with a former classmate, during which the latter received serious injuries. The victim filed a motion to stop the case due to reconciliation of the parties. By decision of the court Cherkesov was exempted from criminal liability.