In Dagestan, court upholds verdict for attack on "Caucasian Knot" correspondent

The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan refused to tighten the sentence to Karim Kasumov, who was punished with suspended sentence in the case on an attack on Patimat Makhmudova, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On November 19, 2018, the court found Karim Kasumov guilty of attacking Patimat Makhmudova, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, and sentenced him to 1.5 years of suspended imprisonment, although the maximum penalty under the article on assault on a journalist provided up to six years of imprisonment. Advocate Akhmed Elmurzaev decided to seek tightening of the punishment.

"Karim Kasumov did not admit his guilt. That means that he does not regret the consequences," stated the advocate. He requested the court to sentence Karim Kasumov to six years of imprisonment.

Roman Amirkhanov, an advocate of Karim Kasumov, called the punishment fair. "The court took into account the mitigating circumstances: the facts that my client takes care of his three minor children and that he has no earlier criminal records. The victim herself refused claims to the defendant. The incident was of domestic nature, since my client was not aware that she was a journalist. Karim Kasumov repaid the damage in full," the advocate said.

The verdict of guilty under the article on obstruction of the lawful professional activities of journalists was pronounced for the first time in Northern Caucasus, the advocate noted.

Karim Kasumov himself explained that "he lost his temper, since it was the month of Ramadan."