21:05, 9 October 2017

Advocate Zaurbek Sadakhanov leaves Russia because of threats

Zaurbek Sadakhanov. Screenshot of video posted by user Kavkazskaya Politika: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEZpPaKATFE

The advocate, who represented the interests of Khamzat Bakhaev, a convict in Boris Nemtsov’s murder case, has left Russia for personal security reasons before the consideration of the appeal against the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 13, the court sentenced five natives of Chechnya, accused of killing Boris Nemtsov. Zaur Dadaev, who was found by investigators to be the killer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison; Anzor Gubashev, Shagid Gubashev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhaev were sentenced to long prison terms, from 11 to 19 years; while the consideration of appeals against the verdict was scheduled for October 10.

On February 15, at the beginning of a court session, Zaurbek Sadakhanov, Khamzat Bakhaev's advocate, announced a theft of all the documents on the case. He said that a window of his car was broken, and the bag with documents and audio records of court sessions was stolen.

Today, Mr Sadakhanov said that he had left Russia for an indefinite period of time, because he received threats. "I’ve left because of personal safety; for how long, time will show," the "Mediazona" quotes him as saying.

He did not elaborate on his fears, but noted that the theft of documents in Nemtsov's case from his car was "not the only occasion." Zaurbek Sadakhanov has not specified the date of his departure and his current place of stay.

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