In Oyub Titiev's case, witness voices conflicting evidence

Today, at the trial in the case against Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Grozny, the court questioned a law enforcer from the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Division). The witness denied his acquaintance with Oyub Titiev, but failed to explain why he wore the same uniform as other law enforcers who took part in the detention of the rights defender.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Shali City Court is considering Oyub Titiev's case since July 19 this year.

Today, the court has continued questioning inspectors of the patrol-and-post service (known as DPS) of the Kurchaloi ROVD, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate of Oyub Titiev.

The first witness questioned today was Musib Madarov, an inspector of the mobile squad of the Kurchaloi ROVD.

Musib Madarov said that he did not detain Oyub Titiev and that, in general, he did not know him.

Advocate Pyotr Zaikin asked what uniform Musib Madarov wore at work. The witness said that at the service he wore only blue camouflage uniform, while at home he wore the uniform "comfortable for him," namely, green camouflage uniform with the "GBR" stripes (according to Oyub Titiev, the law enforcers who detained him in January wore the same uniform, ‑ note of the "Caucasian Knot").

The witness failed to explain where he got the above mentioned uniform. He has noted he does not wear green camouflage at work, since "inspectors should wear only blue camouflage at the police department."

According to advocate Pyotr Zaikin, the defence has photos of the witness wearing green camouflage with "GBR" stripes and driving a car of a camouflage colour. In the course of further questioning, Musib Madarov admitted that when on duty, he had once worn green camouflage uniform with the "GBR" stripes. According to the witness, inspectors were instructed by their chiefs to wear green uniform. However, the witness does not remember who issued such an instruction.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 28, 2018 at 01:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.