In Dagestan, defendant in case of sexual abuse of teenager denies his guilt

Today, the Supreme Court of Dagestan held court hearings on the case of Zhairuly Umarov, accused of committing sexual assault against a minor stepchild. AT the court session, the defendant has denied his guilt, and his lawyer claims violation of the rights of the defendant.

The trial was initially declared to be held behind closed doors; therefore, today, journalists are not able to enter the courtroom. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told of the course of the today's court hearing by a staff member of the Supreme Court of Dagestan, who preferred to remain anonymous.

According to the staff member of the Supreme Court of Dagestan, today, the defendant was interrogated. "Umarov said that he was innocent of the crime he was accused of. According to him, he is being specially kept in custody to prevent his influence on the inheritance of the house in Khasavyurt. Umarov said that he lived in the city in the house of his deceased wife together with her children. After her death, he tried to formalize inheritance for two stepsons; however, the father of his deceased wife opposed that. Umarov said that he was persuaded by Selem Ferzalieva, the trustee of his stepsons. He said that Selem Ferzalieva herself wanted to get the house and decided to get rid of him, Umarov, by that way. Besides, the defendant also drew attention to the fact that the investigation was carried out with numerous violations," stated the staff member of the Supreme Court of Dagestan.

According to him, Selem Ferzalieva herself was also questioned during the court session. "She said that she made no claims for the house and that the Umarov's allegations were groundless. When asked by the defendant's lawyers about the whereabouts of the aggrieved child, Selem Ferzalieva said that investigators took the boy away from her," said the staff member of the Supreme Court of Dagestan.

Sapiyat Magomedova, the defendant's lawyers, claimed that Judge Zakir Israfilov "held the trial with bias." "At first, he banned the audio recording: he said that the trial was being held behind closed doors and, therefore, he forbade the audience to conduct audio recording. However, the law contains not a single reference to the fact that the audio recording is banned at the trial, held behind closed doors. The Judge also refused to give us a copy of the minutes of the court hearing. He said that after the verdict he will give us copies of all minutes," Sapiyat Magomedova stated.

Judge Israfilov was unavailable for comment, and till present, the position of the investigators with respect to the judicial process also remains unknown. The next court hearing on the case will be held on October 15.