Policemen, accused of beating teenager in Dagestan, sentenced to 2 years of conditional sentence

Today, the Court of the village of Khebda of the Shamil District of Dagestan pronounced the verdict in the case of beating a 14-year-old Makhmud Akhmedov by policemen. Gamzat Nurudinov and Shamil Magomedaliev, staff members of the Shamil ROVD (District Interior Division), were sentenced to 2 years of conditional sentence.

In July 2010, Makhmud Akhmedov was taken to the OVD (Interior Division) of the village of Khebda. According to the relatives of the teenager, the policemen violently forced him to confess the theft of a drill. On May 20, 2011, defendants Gamzat Nurudinov, Shamil Magomedaliev, and Magomed Magomedov were conditionally sentenced for 2-4 year of imprisonment; however, the Supreme Court cancelled the verdict and remanded the case to the Prosecutor's Office.

"The lawyer of the victims and the public prosecutor demanded to conditionally sentence Shamil Magomedaliev to 3 years of imprisonment with a probation period of 2 years, and to conditionally sentence Gamzat Nurudinov to 4 years of imprisonment with a probation period of 1 year. The defendant's lawyers petitioned for the release of the defendants, since, according to them, their guilt had not been proved," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told today by a source in the Shamil District Court.

According to him, finally, "the judge ruled that the guilt of the policemen was partially proved and pronounced a similar sentence to both defendants." "The policemen were conditionally sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment with a probation period of 1 year and they were deprived of right to hold positions in the law enforcement system during one year," the source has explained.

The Court official has added that after the trial, the defendants said in their conversation with their lawyers that they would not challenge the decision of the Court. "As far as I know, the plaintiffs have the same opinion," the source has added.

According to Aziz Kurbanov, the lawyer of the Akhmedov family, who works on an agreement with the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", the judge pronounced punishment to Gamzat Nurudinov and Shamil Magomedaliev below the lower limit for Article, being guided by Article 64 (appointment of a more lenient sentence than provided for the offence) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the statement of the HRC "Memorial" reports.