Defence and relatives of blogger Alibek Mirzekhanov criticize his sentence

An advocate of Dagestani blogger Alibek Mirzekhanov, sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, announced the intention to challenge the decision of the court.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Alibek Mirzekhanov was detained on February 21, 2019. On April 29, 2020, the Second Western District Military Court found the defendant guilty of participating in activities of a terrorist organization and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment.

The defence is extremely dissatisfied with the verdict, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Shamil Yandarbaev, a blogger's advocate. "We will certainly file an appeal against the verdict," stated Shamil Yandarbaev.

The advocate did not answer the question whether Alibek Mirzekhanov confirmed his confession in court. "So far, we are not commenting on such questions," the advocate said. According to Shamil Yandarbaev, public prosecutor requested to sentence Alibek Mirzekhanov to 11 years of imprisonment.

Mansur Mirzekhanov, a brother of the sentenced blogger, also refused to say whether Alibek Mirzekhanov pleaded guilty. "The advocate is working now, and voicing of our opinion may hurt the case. Therefore, I will refrain from comments," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Meanwhile, Mansur Mirzekhanov said that relatives of the blogger are dissatisfied with the verdict. "How can we be satisfied with the fact that he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment? Of course, we insist on filing an appeal against the verdict," said the brother of the sentenced blogger.

Alibek Mirzekhanov has been sentenced to the shortest possible term of imprisonment in his case, notes advocate Timofei Shirokov, not involved in the Alibek Mirzekhanov's criminal case. According to the advocate, in practice, the minimum period of sentenced under the given article indirectly indicates that the defendant was not guilty. "As a rule, in our country, if judge understands that a person is not guilty, then the minimum sentence is pronounced," Timofei Shirokov said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 30, 2020 at 04:06 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.