Defence files complaint against court's decision to leave Khamid Razhapov and Tsetiev brothers in custody

In Moscow, the court has pronounced the decision to extend by four months the detention in custody of Khamid Razhapov and Khusein Tsetiev, accused of an attack on staff members of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE). Said-Magomed Tsetiev is left under house arrest for the same period.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Khamid Razhapov, Said-Magomed and Khamzat Tsetiev were detained in September, 2014. According to investigators, they beat up three MfE employees near the Moscow settlement of Vnukovo. On October 2, 2015, all the three declared their innocent and that they had alibi.

The court's decision to extend the pre-trial restriction measure was pronounced on September 13. On September 14, the defence filed an appeal to the Moscow City Court against the extension of the periods of detention in custody and of house arrest for the Tsetiev brothers and Khamid Razhapov. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by advocate Tatiana Okushko.

The advocate has also noted that during the trial at the Sherbinsky District Court, it was revealed that no criminal case had been instituted against the natives of Chechnya under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to Tatiana Okushko, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has repeatedly noted that the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation contain no provisions allowing to prosecute a person for commission of an offense on which no criminal case had been opened. "Thus, the criminal prosecution of the Tsetiev brothers and Khamid Razhapov is unlawful, since it contradicts the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation," stated the advocate.

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