Two defendants in Rostov journalist Tolmachov's case plead not guilty

At the recent court session at the trial in the case against Rostov journalist and publisher Alexander Tolmachov, the court has interrogated two other defendants in one of the episodes of the case entrepreneurs Yury Galagan and Elena Morozova. They pleaded not guilty.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Alexander Tolmachov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Upolnomochen Zayavit" (Authorized to Declare) and the magazine "Pro Rostov", was detained in December 2011, and he is charged with four episodes of extortion. One of the episodes also involves entrepreneurs Yuri Galagan and Elena Morozova as defendants.

The "Caucasian Knot" was told by civic activist Maria Polyanichko that at the court session, the court also questioned former victim Lyudmila Degtyareva as a witness.

"Article 278 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation provides that witnesses are to be interrogated separately and in the absence of other unquestioned witnesses," lawyer Sergey Khalenkov has commented on the situation. He has called the incident a violation.

According to Maria Polyanichko, all violations of the Code of Criminal Procedure committed during the trial on the case against Alexander Tolmachov and the recent verdict to Rostov journalist Sergey Reznik have prompted the activists to hold on December 21 the next rally for freedom of speech.

Let us remind you that the activists treat the case against Alexander Tolmachov as fabricated, since he wrote about the unfairness of the judicial system and the corruption in law enforcement bodies.