Trial of journalists Nizovkina and Stetsura: new examinations appointed

At the trial held in Ulan-Ude of journalists Tatiana Stetsura and Nadezhda Nizovkina, the court ordered to hold new examinations of the text on deportation of the Caucasian nations, for writing and distribution of which the journalists had been prosecuted on charges of inciting hatred and enmity towards employees of power structures.

The next session on the criminal case against Nizovkina and Stetsura was held on May 11 at the Sovietskiy Court of Ulan-Ude and included questioning of Sergey Dambaev, one of the leaders of the Buryat Regional Branch of "Solidarity". In his opinion, the defendants are persecuted for their political activities, disliked by the authorities.

"At this session, Judge Ayuna Popova for the first time raised the issue of application of time limits to this criminal case, which, according to her story, expired on May 2 this year," rights defender Elena Maglevannaya, who had written about torture of prisoners from Northern Caucasus in Russian prisons and received in late 2010 political asylum in Finland, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, the judge raised the issue of a new examination on the case. Earlier, three examinations were conducted within the trial - psychological, linguistic, and sociological ones; however, their conclusions were regarded by the Supreme Court of Buryatia as inadmissible evidences.

The judge said about a possibility to hold examinations in several Russian cities; however, she indicated that it would take about a year, since all these centres of expertise are overloaded and would not be able to make the work faster.

The next court session was scheduled for May 18.