Lawyer: witnesses on Budanov’s case have told the court nothing significant yet

Evidence of witnesses for state prosecution received at a trial on Yuri Budanov’s case today play no fundamental role for the defense party, Valentin Varkentin, attorney of defendant Yusup Temerkhanov, declared.

Consideration of the criminal case of colonel Yuri Budanov’s murder was continued in Moscow city court today. During introduction of evidence of the defendant’s guilt by state prosecution party a number of documents from the materials of the case were read out and the witnesses were interrogated.

Yuri Budanov was killed on June, 10, 2011. Native of Chechnya Yusup Temerkhanov was detained for suspicion of committing the murder. According to the investigation’s version, the defendant committed the crime out of revenge because three servicemen kidded Temerkhanov’s father in Chechnya in 2000. His defense does not recognize the charge.

The prosecution party asked to interrogate Alexander Melnikov working as manager of a department in the Transport bank. He is the legal owner of Mitsubishi Lancer car having the same vehicle identification number with that of the car found on the scene of Yuri Budanov’s murder. Melnikov said that he learned about Yuri Budanov’s murder and his car’s possible participation in the case only after a policeman’s call on the day of the murder.

It should be reminded that on July, 5, 2003, Budanov was acknowledged guilty of kidnapping and murder of Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva and sentenced to ten years of custody. In January of 2009 Budanov was released from custody on parole. Kungaeva’s father considers that Budanov’s murder is not connected with the girl’s death.