Oyub Titiev's defence demands to hold trial outside Chechnya

Today, the preliminary court hearing on the case against Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny has been postponed because of the advocates' request to hold a trial in another region.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting from January 11, Oyub Titiev is being kept under arrest on the charge of marijuana possession. The rights defender said that the drugs were planted on him by a law enforcer and filed to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) a complaint with a request to bring that person to justice. The investigators three times refused to institute a case on the basis of the Oyub Titiev's complaint, and on June 26, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya dismissed the defence complaint about the investigators' refusal to institute proceedings against the law enforcers.

In the Shali District of Chechnya, the court hearing scheduled for today did not take place, and it was postponed to July 9. The advocates filed a motion for consideration of the case in another region, for example, in Moscow. While the motion is not considered, the Shali City Court cannot begin the trial, the HRC "Memorial" reports.

The advocates believe that the consideration of the case should be transferred to another region, since the leaders of the republic have repeatedly spoken about the Oyub Titiev's guilt. The defenders treat the above fact as the pressure on judges.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’on July 3, 2018 at 12:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.