Krasnodar: Professor Savva's defence challenges the verdict

The defence of the conditionally convicted Mikhail Savva has appealed his verdict at the Krasnodar Territorial Court, said his lawyer Marina Dubrovina. His rights to the defence were violated during the trial, said the Professor.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 2, the Pervomaiskiy District Court of Krasnodar sentenced Mikhail Savva, a Professor of the Kuban State University and Director of Grant Programmes of the Southern Regional Resource Centre (SRRC) to three years of conditional imprisonment with 2 years of probation and a fine of 70,000 roubles. After the announcement of the verdict, the defence expressed its disagreement.

"Contrary to the current norms, we received the text of the verdict not on the day of announcement, but only on April 8," said Elena Savva, Mikhail's wife. Professor explained that the deadline for submitting an appeal was April 12. However, the main complaint will be followed by supplements, since he had not yet received the Court Records, required to compile a complete list of violations during the judicial process. He noted, inter alia, a violation of his right to defence, inability to interrogate the persons who had given evidence against him, and that he was denied all the requested all examinations, including a check of the signature on the curriculum.