22:48, 6 March 2019

Defence reports major violations in Oyub Titiev's case

A press conference on Oyub Titiev's case. Photo: screenshot of the video by the Human Rights Centre "Memorial"

Advocates of the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny, accused of possessing marijuana, have conducted an experiment, which, according to them, indicates falsification in the case. In particular, the defenders believe it was impossible to remove the scotch tape from the package allegedly found with Oyub Titiev in a way it was presented in the case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 21, the judicial investigation into the case against Oyub Titiev was completed. The advocates of the rights defender pointed to the accusatory bias of the trial.

On January 9, 2018, Oyub Titiev was twice detained on his way to Kurchaloi. After the first detention and the Oyub Titiev's claim that it took place with violations, the rights defender was forced to get into a car. Then, Oyub Titiev was again stopped by policemen who seized a package with drug for the second time. The rights defender insists that the drugs were planted to him.

Advocate Marina Dubrovina has conducted an experiment and proved that the scotch tape could not be removed from the package without damage, the "Kavkaz.Realii" reports.

Earlier, the advocates have noted that the court supports the prosecutors' arguments and refuses to grant any defence motions, since they point to gross falsifications in the case.

Rachel Denber, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Deputy Director, has called on the Russian authorities to stop the prosecution of Oyub Titiev.

Earlier, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has publicly called Oyub Titiev a drug addict, without mentioning his last name.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 6, 2019 at 03:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.