In Chechnya Ruslan Kutaev has his imprisonment reduced by two months

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has completed considering the complaint against the verdict to Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Peoples of the Caucasus, and decided to reduce his prison term from 4 years down to 3 years and 10 months, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the SC.

The SC has also changed some of the restrictions imposed by the court of the first instance in respect of Ruslan Kutaev. In particular, he was allowed to attend public places after serving his term, said his advocate Pyotr Zaikin.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 7 Kutaev was sentenced to four years of freedom deprivation, although he insisted on his innocence. Today, the court has finished considering the appeal complaint against the sentence to Ruslan Kutaev.

According to Kutaev’s advocate Pyotr Zaikin, today the verdict comes into force. The advocate has added that the SC's decision would be appealed against. "We intend to appeal against the verdict," said Zaikin. "However, this will require more time, but we will go to the end."

Today, the convict himself has spoken at the debates. In his last plea, Ruslan Kutaev reiterated his innocence. He also said that Tamirlan Musaev, the Assistant to the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya, took part in torturing him and threatened to cut off his head.

Let us remind you that the human rights organization Amnesty International has recognized Kutaev to be a "prisoner of conscience"; and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has put him on the list of political prisoners.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.