The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation appointed consideration of the question of jurisdiction of the case of journalist Tolmachev from Rostov-on-Don on June, 28

At 11:00 Moscow time, June, 28, the case of alteration of territorial jurisdiction of the case of journalist and publisher Alexander Tolmachev accused of extortion will be considered in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the journalist’s supporters informed.

Earlier, the “Caucasian Knot” reported that Alexander Tolmachev was taken into custody upon a verdict of Novocherkassk city court on December of 2011 for accusation of extortion of one million rubles from a businessman. On May, 20, Novocherkassk city court granted the motion of Tolmachev’s defense to refer the trial from Rostov region to another one.

“The Supreme Court will decide which subject of the Federation Tolmachev’s criminal case will be referred to”, lawyer and human rights activist Viacheslav Altukhov, member of the organization “People’s Legal Control”, said to the “Caucasian Knot”.  

“In our appeal we offered two neighbouring regions, Krasnodar or Stavropol, where an unbiased consideration of Tolmachev’s criminal case on the merits was possible. One cannot foresee the verdict of the Supreme Court for it can either grant or dismiss our motion”, “Blocknote” (“Notebook”) media quotes the journalist’s attorney Sergey Emelyanov.

It should be reminded that representatives of the opposition and civil community consider that Tolmachev is undergoing repression for his critical articles on the situation in juridical and law enforcement systems in Rostov region.