Observers find it necessary to protect key defence witnesses in Sentsov's case

The observers believe that rights defenders and the Ombudsperson must protect the rights of Gennady Afanasiev and Alexei Chirnij – the key witnesses in the case of "Sentsov's group".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Gennady Afanasiev was tortured during the investigation. This was declared on August 3 by the advocate Alexander Popkov, who had visited his client in the SIZO (pre-trial prison).

"The Chirnij's refusal to testify and a courageous act of Afanasiev, who said that he had given earlier testimonies under pressure, speak for themselves. I'm sure that Oleg Sentsov and Alexander Kolchenko are innocent of what they are charged with. But the main thing is that now Afanasiev badly needs an advocate and support of rights defenders and Ombudspersons both of the Rostov Region, and at the federal level," Oleg Kudrin, a Rostov journalist, who is observing the trial, told in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The fact that Chirnij and Afanasiev have refused to give false evidence against the so-called 'accomplices', suggests that their testimonies had been really knocked out of them, as it is often done – through violence and psychological terror. Now I am afraid of what will happen to Chirnij and Afanasiev after such bold steps of them. I'd like to hope that local rights defenders will be able to keep their eyes on that as much as they can," said Roman Leksikov, a member of the students' trade union.

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