In Ingushetia, jury acquitted defendant charged of attack on the Republic

On April 21, the Jury of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia acquitted Magomed Aspiev, accused of committing the crimes covered by Articles 209, part 2, 285, part 3, and 222, part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CCRF). Aspiev was defended by an advocate, invited by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial."

The message of the HRC "Memorial" that arrived to the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot" states that in November 2005 Aspiev's mother addressed in writing to the office of the HRC "Memorial" in the city of Nazran. She informed that on July 19, 2004, in Nazran, her son Magomed Musayevich Aspiev, born in 1978, servant of the OMON (Special Militia) of the MIA of the Republic of Ingushetia (RI), was detained in the building of the Republic's MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs). The relatives learnt about detainment only on July 23. At the MIA of Ingushetia, Aspieva was told that her son was suspected of involvement in the armed attack on Ingushetia at night on June 22, 2004.

Aspieva told that her son could not have been involved in the attack on Ingushetia, since at night on June 22, 2004, having passed over his on duty services, he was at home in the village of Troitskaya, and it is confirmed by multiple evidences of the neighbours.

The workers of the HRC "Memorial" studied the materials submitted by the mother of arrested militiaman and asked his neighbours and relatives.

It was found out that Magomed Aspiev is accused also of participating in a permanent armed group headed by K. A. Malsagov. In the opinion of the accusation, a proof the fact was a video cassette founded after the death of Malsagov in the course of searching his house. The video showed K. A. Malsagov and M. M. Aspiev together. The film was about Aspiev's wedding party, and K. A. Malsagov was his cousin. The defendant himself declared that he had nothing in common with K. A. Malsagov, and he had no idea about his illegal activities.

"It was obvious that to construct accusation on this sort of "evidentiary base" was stupid. The HRC "Memorial" has already reported about multiple cases of fabricated criminal cases in the Republic of Ingushetia and making prosecutor's verdicts on the basis of defendants' confessions obtained through tortures. Part of such facts was summarized in the report "Conveyor of Violence"," the message of the "Memorial" runs.

The Human Rights Centre "Memorial" rendered legal aid to the defendant and provided an advocate to him. Before that, M. Aspiev was defended by an advocate appointed by the investigation, whom the suspect did not see in fact. Aspiev stated that he was cruelly beaten and tortured, and finally he was forced to sign a confession of committing the crimes.

The new advocate immediately lodged a compliant on application of illegal methods in the course of investigation, as a result of which Magomed was forced to self-defame and confess of what he never did. However, after the check held by the prosecutor's office of Ingushetia, initiation of a criminal case against the employees of the UBOP (Unit for fighting organized crime) of the RI was refused.
 
During several recent months the case was considered at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia.

On April 21, the jury announced their verdict: "Magomed Aspiev is innocent."

During the latest months, this was already the fourth case, when the jury acquitted the persons charged of taking part in illegal armed formations.

At the end of Match, Nikolai Shepel, deputy general prosecutor of Russia, stated that "crimes of terrorist nature should be excluded out of the list of criminal cases subject to consideration by a jury," including the cases with charges of terrorism, hostage-taking, organization of an illegal armed formation, or participation therein, an armed riot and public appeals to a forced change of the constitutional order.

The RIA "Novosti" reported that Mr. Shepel justified his position by the fact that in certain republics, in his words, up to 83.5% of the population are in these or those relative ties. In particular, he mentioned Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Chechnya. "In these republics, it is very difficult to get a convicting verdict, even under obvious proofs of the guilt," deputy general prosecutor stated.

The Human Rights Centre "Memorial" declares that the case like the case of Magomed Aspiev, get "ruined" in the court not because of alleged relative ties, but as a result of a complete lack of any evidence base with the prosecution, except for defendants' confessions knocked out of them under tortures at the initial investigation phase.