10:03, 7 February 2008

Court rejects Stomakhin's early conditional release

The Tonshaev Court of the Nizhni Novgorod Region has refused to apply the procedure of early conditional release to Boris Stomakhin, publicist of the website of Chechen separatists "Kavkaz-Centre" who was sentenced to 5 years of colony for kindling interethnic enmity and extremism. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Vladimir Shaklein, head of the Ekaterinburg branch of the Movement "For Human Rights".

According to Mr Shaklein, the judge has declared that Stomakhin's petition about early conditional release (ECR) was premature and rejected it. The human rights activist has explained that the law does not forbid submitting repeatedly a similar petition in the future.

The court session took place in the territory of Corrective Colony No. 4 located in the settlement of Burepolom, Tonshaev District, Nizhni Novgorod Region. The court has refused to admit Vladimir Shaklein into the courtroom and recognize him as Boris Stomakhin's public defender. Mr Shaklein believes that it was illegal since all the corresponding documents had been properly drawn up.

Author: Vyacheslav Feraposhkin, CK correspondent