14:17, 30 July 2021

Court upholds verdict to Ingush activist Magomed Khamkhoev

Magomed Khamkhoev. Photo courtesy of his brother Gelani Khamkhoev

The Stavropol Territorial Court has upheld the verdict to Magomed Khamkhoev, a participant in the rally in Magas, who was convicted of inciting an attack on law enforcers. His defence intends to appeal against the decision.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 16, 2021, the court found Khamkhoev guilty and sentenced him to 3.5 years in colony. With account of the term he had served at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), he was to spend eight months more in custody. The charges against Khamkhoev are untenable; and the court judgement is unfair and harsh, his relative and advocate have stated.

Khamkhoev became the first of the participants in the 2019 rally in March, who was charged not only with an attack on law enforcers, but also with inciting others to do this, Fatima Urusova, an advocate, has noted. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* has announced Khamkhoev to be a political prisoner.

The judge should have cancelled the verdict and sent the case for a new trial because of procedural violations, Djabrail Kuriev, an advocate, has noted, explaining that the court had ignored the testimonies of 38 witnesses who confirmed Khamkhoev's innocence. "They asserted that Khamkhoev did not call for anything; and they performed all the actions on their own," the "OVD-Info" has quoted Kuriev as saying.

Khamkhoev has almost served his prison term and should be back at large on August 6, the advocate said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 30, 2021 at 04:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent