Relatives of convicted Astrakhan residents complain about ban on visits

The guilt of five residents of the Astrakhan Region, sentenced to long terms under the case of a unit of the "Islamic State" (IS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court), has not been proved; the verdict will be appealed against, the advocates have stated. Relatives complain that they could not see the defendants from the day they were detained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 5, the Southern District Military Court sentenced five persons accused of taking part in the Astrakhan IS* unit to prison terms from 10 to 17 years.

The defence intends to appeal against the verdict, Sergey Zaikin, an advocate of Khasan Kitiev, has stated after the court session.

"No conclusive proofs of their guilt were presented at the session. There is only a sincere confession and interrogation protocols dated the same day – June 24, 2018, from which they refused, stating that they were obtained by using unlawful methods," Mr Zaikin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

After the defendants were detained, their relatives could not obtain a single permit to visit them in custody, Aza Kitieva, Khasan Kitiev's mother, has stated.

"Soon it will be two years of our efforts to get a permit for a visit, but not a single visit was granted – I and Khasan's wife received refusals. Now we'll try again to file a request for a visit," Aza Kitieva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

* Islamic State (IS, former ISIL) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 6, 2020 at 00:44 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.