53 convicts appeal against verdict in Nalchik attack case

Appeal complaints against the verdict in the case about the attack on Nalchik were submitted by 53 out of 57 convicts, including all five of them, sentenced to life imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 23, 2014, five figurants in the above case were sentenced to life imprisonment; three were released because they had served the awarded terms; and the rest of them were sentenced to terms ranging from 9 to 23 years in prison. A number of defendants' advocates treated the verdict as too harsh. Rights defenders noted that there are convicts whose involvement in the above attack is questionable.

The advocate of Farid Tuganov reported that all her clients – Azamat Akhkubekov, Anzor Mashukov and Eduard Mironov – have appealed against the verdict.

According to advocates, only four convicts decided not to submit complaints, namely: Anzor Ashev and Zalim Ulimbashev, who have already served their terms, and Kaplan Midov and Alim Akhkubekov, who rejected all the points of their charges, but do not believe that the verdict against them can be changed.

As a result of the armed attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, 95 attackers, 35 law enforcers and 15 civilians were killed.

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