Mother of Shogenov, defendant in "Caliphate case" insists on his alibi

Islam Shogenov, treated by prosecutors as a member of a militant grouping, which had planned to establish a caliphate in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), was unable to make an attempt on the colonel, said his mother. She presented the evidence to the court that before the attempt her son was busy preparing for the wedding, and on the day the crime he was at the higher school.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the case of ten KBR residents is being considered by the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don since August 2016.

On January 13, Tatiana Misostova, Shogenov's mother spoke to the court. According to her version, Islam Shogenov was brought up in a family of intellectuals, "where all the members were teachers."

Shogenov had professed Islam since childhood; however, his mother has stressed, it was "the enlightened Islam of peace, kindness and mercy, not of radicalism."

On December 21, 2013, Islam Shogenov got married. The mother noted that none of the defendants was present at the wedding party. If Islam had been friends with them, they would have been certainly invited, Ms Misostova has assured.

Advocates asked to complement the case files with the photos, which, in their opinion, confirm that Shogenov was getting ready for his wedding, and not "studying the travel route" of Colonel Arthur Tembotov, as stated in the case files. But the court refused to add the photos, treating them as irrelevant to the case.

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