11:04, 15 June 2017

"Novaya Gazeta": power agents demand from Amriev to plead guilty

Murad Amriev at the press conference in Grozny with Kheda Saratova, a member of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Photo: screenshot of a video by KAVPOLIT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Serh_t45fgs

Murad Amriev, suspected of using a fraudulent document, has rejected power agents' demand to plead guilty and filed a petition to stop his criminal case, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 8 it became known that Murad Amriev, an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) world champion, was detained in Belarus. On June 9, Amriev was taken to a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Grozny; however, on the same day he was released under recognizance not to leave. According to his advocate, there are no grounds for Amriev's criminal prosecution, because of the expiry of limitation period.

On June 8, Zurab Amriev, Murad's brother, stated that he had been regarded to be an organizer of an attempt on a high-ranking policeman; and the deliberately persecute Murad Amriev in order to force Zurab to return to Chechnya.

Law enforcers have called Amriev to active repentance, that is, to confess his guilt, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports.

"This is already the second condition, put forward to Murad and his family; the first was to reject the services of the advocate Pyotr Zaikin, who was hired to defend the athlete's interests by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)," the newspaper writes.

On June 10, Amriev said that he had decided to reject Pyotr Zaikin "independently, without any pressure from Chechen law enforcers." According to Zaikin, Murad had reached some compromise with the Chechen power agents "based on the local law."

According to the "Novaya Gazeta", Kheda Saratova, a member of the Human Rights Council (HRC) under the head of Chechnya, has confirmed that power agents tried to force Amriev to plead guilty.

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