Witnesses on the case of an assault at Nalchik denied the evidence they gave during pretrial inquest

On September, 27, during a trial on the case of gunmen's assault at Nalchik in autumn, 2005, in the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, three witnesses who at the moment of the assault were servicemen of the frontier department which underwent the gunmen's attack bore evidence. 

All the three witnesses: Fazil Inderov, Ruslan Khamgokov and Sergey Zolotov (the latter is currently not in service) declared in court that during the assault at the frontier detachment they saw none of the attackers and opened no backfire. 

Upon a motion of the prosecution their evidence at pretrial inquest was read out. It appeared that the servicemen did not see the gunmen. One of the witnesses saw them on the roof of a neighbouring building, another near a dwelling house and the third one at the fencing of the military unit. 

The witnesses denied this evidence. To most of the questions they answered: "I do not remember". 

Two of the three witnesses said that they had not been interrogated at all. 

Sergey Zolotov declared that the investigator asked him only one question, i.e. whether he was in the territory of the unit that day. 

At the same time, the witnesses recognized their signatures in the protocols as their own.

Defendant Azret Shavaev drew the court's attention to the essence of the problem. "It is not so important for the charge brought against us where the interrogated persons were and whether they shot or not. But it is very important for the case under consideration how the investigative group interrogated the witnesses. We can see that the evidence was just invented", the defendant said. 

Chief justice declared that the defendant was estimating the evidence which was allowed only in process of pleadings. 

See earlier reports: "One of the defendants on the case of an assault at Nalchik went on a hunger strike," "Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria extends arrest of defendants in Nalchik attack case," "At trial on case of attack on Nalchik, prosecutor demands arrest of defendants earlier released from custody," "Court releases accused of attack on Nalchik from custody for medical treatment," "Defendant in case of attack on Nalchik seeks case consideration without his presence."