Advocates claim absence of evidence of Lyudmila Bogatenkova's guilt

Lyudmila Bogatenkova, the head of the Stavropol Committee of Soldiers' Mothers "Mothers from Kuma River Area", who is accused of fraud, plans to deliver her final speech at the court session to be held in Budyonnovsk on June 18. According to advocates of Lyudmila Bogatenkova, no evidence of their client's guilt was presented in the course of the trial.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the investigation into the case against 74-year-old Lyudmila Bogatenkova was started in October 2014. The human rights defender associates the criminal proceedings against her with her professional activities.

On May 21, the court questioned victim Yuri Dubrovin and his father, who spoke as a witness for the prosecution. On June 3, public prosecutor asked to sentence Lyudmila Bogatenkova to 2.5 years of imprisonment.

According to defender Vitaly Zubenko, in the course of the debates, the public prosecutor did not try to eliminate the contradictions discovered by the advocates.

Anna Mikhailova, a staff member of the Rapid Response Centre for Protection of Human Rights Defenders, involved in the trial as an independent observer, has expressed her hope that the court will take into account all the facts presented by the defence.

The criminal proceedings against Lyudmila Bogatenkova were preceded by her investigation into the deaths of Russian soldiers during the combat actions in Ukraine in July and August 2014.

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