Court forbids journalists to directly quote witnesses in Rasul Mirzaev's case

Journalists are forbidden to quote the testimonies of witnesses in the case against athlete Rasul Mirzaev, after whose punch Ivan Agafonov, a Moscow resident, died. This was announced by Evgeniya Pazukhina, Press Secretary of the Zamoskvorechye Court of Moscow.

The Zamoskvorechye Court of Moscow asks the journalists to quote the testimonies of the witness in the criminal case against the sambo fighter Rasul Mirzaev in indirect speech, the "Interfax" reports.

Evgeniya Pazukhina, Press Secretary of the Court, has reminded that direct quoting of the testimonies of the witnesses is prohibited by the Code of Criminal Procedure. She has added that the witnesses, who have not yet appeared in the courtroom, are reading on the Internet the testimonies of the questioned witnesses.

"The witnesses, who have not yet spoken in the court, can read the testimonies of the questioned witnesses and change them. Therefore, we do not allow the journalists to publish direct quotes of the testimonies of the questioned witnesses," she said. The Press Secretary has added that the measure was undertaken to guarantee the contentiousness of the parties.

Evgeniya Pazukhina has also noted that the Court will monitor the publications from the trial and the media representatives, who violate the ban, will be removed from the courtroom.