09:01, 8 May 2014

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's advocates ask court to ban disclosure of defendant's testimony at trial

Boston, USA. Photo: Riptor3000, http://commons.wikimedia.org

Advocates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of organizing the terror act in Boston, have appealed to the court and asked to ban reading out at the trial the testimony given by their client in the hospital. On May 7, the motion was filed to the federal court in Boston (Massachusetts).

The advocates explain their motion by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's health state at the time when he was in hospital. According to the advocates, his jaw was badly injured, and he gave the testimony to FBI agents in writing only, while he was handcuffed to his bed. He asked the FBI agents to give him a chance to sleep and required the presence of an advocate, since there were no advocates with him at that time. According to the advocates, the questioning lasted about a day. The public defenders have stated in their motion that they repeatedly tried to visit Dzhokhar Tsarnaev while he was in the hospital; however, they were not allowed.

"The undeniable fact that the agents intentionally told Dzhokhar Tsarnaev he would not have any advocate until the end of the questioning suggests that the testimony was given under duress," the "ITAR-TASS" quotes the motion as stating.