Defence of Ingush activists claims accusatory bias of court

Over the past two days, court hearings in a case against Ingush activists have been very short, although some of the defence’s motions have been left unconsidered, advocate Basir Ozdoev reports. The judge insists on the participation of appointed advocates in the case, although such participation contradicts the law, public defenders Oleg Orlov and Ruslan Mutsolgov state.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that since January 13, in the Stavropol Territory, the court has been considering the appeals filed against the verdict to seven leaders of the Magas protest. On May 12, the advocates claimed at trial that the investigators and the court did not prove that there were signs of extremism in the actions of the convicts. The guilty verdict is based on allegations, advocate Bashir Tochiev explains.

On April 27, the Ingush activists demanded to remove the appointed advocates. They were supported by the appointed advocates themselves, who noted that their participation in the case in the presence of the advocates by agreement was illegal. Musa Malsagov stated that, in his opinion, the advocate assigned to him was in collusion with the court.

The court did not give an answer to the defenders whether the evidence examined in the first instance court would be considered, said Basir Ozdoev, an advocate of Bagaudin Khautiev. He noted that the advocates face obstacles when examining the case materials.

Oleg Orlov, the co-chair of the Human Rights Protection Centre “Memorial”, a public defender of Zarifa Sautieva, emphasizes that the judge commits many violations during the trial. In particular, the violations concern the situation with the advocates by appointment.

The course of the trial leaves no doubts about the verdict of the court, notes Ruslan Mutsolgov, a public defender of Bagaudin Khautiev.