Alexander Dolzhenko's defence accuses court of desire to produce "second Magnitsky"

In Elista, in his final speech, defendant Alexander Dolzhenko has announced to the court his innocence in the case of deliberate bankruptcy of the "Dalnyaya Step" Company. The funds were withdrawn from the company under the control of top-ranking officials. This opinion was voiced by advocates, who suspect the court of "the desire to make the second Magnitsky out of Alexander Dolzhenko."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the public prosecutor demanded to sentence Alexander Dolzhenko to three years of imprisonment. According to the public prosecutor, the former arbitration manager of the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Dalnyaya Step" is guilty of aiding and abetting William Browder, the chief of "Hermitage Capital", in contributing to the deliberate bankruptcy of the LLC "Dalnyaya Step".

The interests of the defendant were represented by advocates Nadezhda Ermolaeva and Adam Abubakarov.

An official from the Federal Tax Service of Kalmykia, recognized as the injured party, has noted that "the state suffered major damage in the amount of 1.2 billion roubles."

Alexander Dolzhenko himself has stated that he "could not bring the LLC 'Dalnyaya Step' to bankruptcy, since he was not a manager or a founder of the company."

The advocates of Alexander Dolzhenko argue that throughout the entire trial he "could not appeal for medical help."

According to Nadezhda Ermolaeva, the defence has indicated all violations of the Code of Criminal Procedure committed by the first instance court, as well as violations committed during the preliminary investigation.

"The Alexander Dolzhenko's actions could not result in the insolvency of the legal entity. He became an arbitration manager after the bankruptcy procedure," noted the advocate.

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