Court rules to study firearms of IS unit in KChR

The registration centres that control the firearm circulation give conflicting data about the submachine guns, which, according to investigators, were owned by members of the "Islamic State" (IS, banned in Russia) unit created in the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR). This was stated by defendants' advocates. The court agreed to deliver the submachine guns into the courtroom and disassemble them on the spot.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in October 2016, six residents of the KChR, Dagestan and Stavropol Territory were detained on suspicion of having links with the IS. The detainees complained about torture during the investigation.

At the court session on December 1, the four witnesses, who were supposed to be present during the search of the apartment of Alexander Bendenko, one of the defendants, failed to appear again.

The defence believes that investigative actions had been held without witnesses; therefore, the protocols thereof should be treated as inadmissible evidence.

At the session, Sergey Shevtsov, Rasul Saiputdinov's advocate, stated falsification of evidence in the case, namely, of two protocols about the inspection of the scene of the incident and the confiscation of submachine guns from the hideout in the mountain near Karachaevsk, where the defendants filmed their video appeals.

"As for the firearms, everything is obvious, nobody cares about the origin thereof; let them continue planting it," said Natalia Belikova, another advocate.

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