Advocates of Karpyuk and Klykh challenge verdict of guilty

In their brief appeal, the defenders of Ukrainian citizens Stanislav Klykh and Nikolai Karpyuk ask to cancel the guilty verdict pronounced by the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya. This was reported by Ilya Novikov, an advocate of the sentenced men, on June 10.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the criminal case against Stanislav Klykh and Nikolai Karpyuk was considered with the involvement of the jury by the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic since October 27, 2015. The panel of judges has unanimously recognized the both defendants guilty. Meanwhile, the jurors believe that Stanislav Klykh deserves leniency. Nikolai Karpyuk was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months of imprisonment, and Stanislav Klykh to 20 years of imprisonment.

In their appeal, the advocates have pointed out to procedural violations, which, according to the defenders, were committed during the proceedings in the criminal case against Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh in court, the advocate notes.

According to Dokka Itslaev, another advocate, the court has violated the defendants' right to freedom from torture, to interrogation of defence witnesses, as well as to independent and impartial consideration of the case.

"Yet before the jury pronounced their verdict, the Chechen TV Channel broadcasted a show, alleging that the guilt of our clients were fully proved and that any verdict other than guilty would be contrary to the position of the leaders of the republic," the "Interfax Ukraine" quotes Dokka Itslaev and Ilya Novikov as stating.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will be able to start the process of extradition of Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh by submitting a corresponding request to the Russian side, only after the sentence comes into force, the "Newsru.ua" reports with reference to Pavel Petrenko, Ukrainian Minister of Justice.

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