Kuban pensioners appealed against transfer of case to military court

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Sergey Kuzovenko and Marina Zakharova, who are accused of creating an illegal armed group, appealed against the transfer of their case to the Southern District Military Court for consideration. Their lawyers stated that there were no grounds for such a decision by the judge.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel", pensioners Nikolay Nabiyev, Sergey Kuzovenko and Marina Zakharova, accused of creating an illegal armed group, complained of health problems in the pretrial detention center. Relatives stated that they learn about their condition from lawyers; the accused are not allowed to see their relatives. According to the witness, the defendants were involved in public activities and were unfoundedly accused of creating an illegal armed group. In April, the prosecutor requested 11 to 12.5 years of imprisonment for the defendants. The defendants refused to admit guilt. On June 6, the Uspensky District Court of Krasnodar Krai did not pass a sentence and referred the case to the Southern District Military Court for consideration.

Two of the three defendants in the case of Kuban pensioners, Sergei Kuzovenko and Marina Zakharova, accused of creating an illegal armed group, filed appeals on July 29 against the decision of the Uspensky District Court to transfer their case to the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don.

Relatives of the defendants believe that the judge is trying to get rid of the case so as not to hand down an obviously unjust sentence under pressure from security forces.

We are afraid that this is a way to put pressure on the elderly and deprive them of the right to a fair trial

“For two years, my father has been arguing that neither he nor his friends did anything illegal. And now, instead of a sentence, their case is suddenly sent to a military court. We are afraid that this is a way to put pressure on the elderly and deprive them of the right to a fair trial,” Sergei Kuzovenko’s daughter Nadezhda told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent, explaining why her father decided to appeal the judge’s decision to transfer the case.

“The judge himself listened to this trial for two years and only after the defendants’ final statement did he suddenly announce that the jurisdiction needed to be changed. "This does not look like justice, but rather like a blatant and open attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility for this case," Marina Melikhova, a former cellmate of Marina Zakharova, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The lawyers agree with the position of their clients. In the appeals filed by them in the interests of the pensioners through the Uspensky District Court (available to "Caucasian Knot") it is stated that the basis for transferring the case was a reference to paragraph "p" of Part 1 of Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (committing a crime for the purpose of propaganda, justification and support of terrorism). However, as follows from the document, not a single piece of evidence of this circumstance was presented during the three years of investigation and two years of trial. Moreover, the defendants are not accused of propaganda of terrorism under Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the organization they were members of has not been recognized as terrorist. “The judge had no right to refer to a non-existent circumstance to change jurisdiction. This is a direct violation of Article 31 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, as well as the right to a lawful trial, enshrined in Article 47 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation," the complaint says.

In addition, the defense points to procedural violations: the decision to transfer the case was made after the defendants' final statement, although the issue of jurisdiction should be decided at the early stages of the process.

"The defendants' appeals will be transferred according to the procedure to the regional court and considered by the Krasnodar Regional Court," a representative of the Uspensky Court told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The defendants' relatives hope that this decision will be overturned, and the case will be returned to the Uspensky District Court for consideration on the merits, but with a new composition. “We just want a fair trial, not elderly people being dragged through courts just because someone is afraid to find them innocent and acquit them,” said the daughter of one of the defendants.

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