In Abkhazia, father of murdered schoolgirl sentenced to 20 years in prison

On July 3, the Supreme Court (SC) of Abkhazia sentenced a local resident to 20 years of imprisonment on the charges of raping and killing his nine-year-old daughter. His suspected accomplice was sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 2, 2013, body of a nine-year-old girl from Sukhumi with signs of violent death was found in the Sukhumi District of Abkhazia. The girl did not return from school on due time. That fact provoked anxiety of her father, who went to look for his daughter and found her dead with a cut throat. In March 2016, it became known that the charge was brought against Mikhail Buryak, a resident of Sukhumi. In June 2016, the criminal case was transferred to the court. The girl's father was involved in the criminal case as the second defendant.

On July 3, the Supreme Court of Abkhazia announced the verdict of guilty in the case of the rape and murder of the girl, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Given the cumulative crime, the girl's father was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, and Mikhail Buryak, given his earlier punishment, was sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment.

In his final speech, the father of the murdered girl has said that he has no confidence in the prosecutors, who, according to him, "broke his life."

"My life stopped after I lost my daughter, my beloved daughter... However, almost on the first days after my daughter's murder, our brave prosecutor's office began to openly talk about my possible involvement in the case," the defendant said.

According to advocate Igor Sknarin, the defence will appeal against the verdict, since his client is not guilty.

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