Batyr Pukhaev acquitted on charge of treason

The Supreme Court of South Ossetia has sentenced Batyr Pukhaev to one year and ten months of imprisonment on the charge of extremism, but found him not guilty of treason. Batyr Pukhaev was released from the courtroom, since he had already served the sentence pronounced to him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 11, 2014, Batyr Pukhaev and his brother Igor Pukhaev, a former deputy of the Parliament of South Ossetia, were detained on suspicion of plotting a coup d'etat and cooperating with the interim administration of South Ossetia established by the Georgian side. Relatives of the Pukhaev brothers claimed the violations committed against the detained brothers and the investigators' attempts to block their defence. However, the KGB of South Ossetia has denied those claims.

According to an official from the Supreme Court of South Ossetia, Batyr Pukhaev was exempted from criminal liability under Article on treason, since he had voluntarily ceased his involvement in an extremist community.

Meanwhile, under Article on inciting hatred or hostility and humiliation of human dignity, the Supreme Court of South Ossetia has sentenced Batyr Pukhaev to one year and ten months of imprisonment.

On March 10, Igor Pukhaev was released and extradite to the Georgian side within the trilateral exchange of prisoners on the Georgian-Abkhaz border.

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