17:06, 16 December 2023

Witnesses refuse to testify in case against human rights defender Nagavkin

Igor Nagavkin. Screenshot of the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=889D7ey9c0w

At a court hearing in a case against Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender from Volgograd, prosecution witnesses recanted their testimonies given during the preliminary investigation. The judge did not grant the defendant’s request to question a linguist specialist who conducted an examination on the investigator’s instructions.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 4, the Leninsky District Court held a hearing on the criminal case against Igor Nagavkin, accused of disorganizing the operation of a SIZO (pre-trial prison) and threatening prison staff. The victims were unable to answer the advocate’s questions about the disorganization in the operation of the SIZO in connection with the incident.

On April 18, in the Volgograd Region, a court found Igor Nagavkin guilty of stealing jewellery and sentenced him to six years of imprisonment. On November 22, Igor Nagavkin reported constant threats and pressure from the SIZO administration.

Two witnesses were summoned to court again, and both of them recanted their initial testimonies given to the investigator on record. One of the witnesses stated that, on the instructions of the investigator, a field investigator gave him “a piece of paper to sign,” and he signed it without reading it. The second witness also recanted his original testimony and stated that he “didn’t hear anything.”

In June 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declared Igor Nagavkin’s arrest and long-term detention in 2016 illegal.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 15, 2023 at 07:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Vyacheslav Yaschenko

Source: СK correspondent