Prosecutor demands not to soften verdicts in case of attack on Nalchik

At the trial, considering the appeals against the sentences in the criminal case on the attack on Nalchik, 14 convicts have delivered their final speeches. All of them have asked the court to commute their sentences or to acquit them. The public prosecutors have opposed the mitigation of the punishment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that 48 out of 52 convicts filed the appeals against their sentences in the case. Most of them claim to have been involved in the events by fraud.

On January 21, public prosecutor Olga Chibineva spoke at the debate at the trial. She has treated as groundless the defendants' disagreement with the court's refusal to consider the case by jury.

The public prosecutor has explained that in 2008, in the period from May to December, the court was busy with the jury selection; however, the court did not succeed in the formation of the jury, since the events in Nalchik got great public interest. The deadline for the formation of the jury had expired, and on December 30, 2008, the law was adopted, according to which criminal cases opened under articles of terrorism were withdrawn from the competence of the jury.

"Thus, the advocates' arguments concerning the illegitimacy of the trial are groundless," Olga Chibineva has emphasized.

The public prosecutor has called far-fetched the statements that the convicts were involved in the crime by fraud and that they were not aware of the preparation of the attack on the city.

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