19:44, 20 December 2013

Court of Krasnodar starts retrial of Professor Savva's case

Today, the Pervomaiskiy District Court of Krasnodar has held a preliminary hearing of the case initiated against Professor Mikhail Savva. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that the partially considered case will be retried because of the replacement of the judge.

Marina Dubrovina, Mikhail Savva's advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the defence was notified about the replacement of Judge Makhovoy, who had been considering the case from November 5, three days ago; and it was an "unpleasant surprise" for the defence.

"Under the chairmanship of Makhovoy we had examined already three-quarters of the case, and were approaching the debates; now, it all starts again," said Dubrovina.

As part of the preliminary hearing, Mikhail Savva petitioned about the return of the case to the prosecutor's office because of the violations admitted in the indictment. However, the petition was rejected.

The consideration of the merits is scheduled for December 25.

Author: Natalia Dorokhina

Source: CK correspondent