In Kabardino-Balkaria, a defendant in the case on attack on Nalchik wants to refuse from taking part in the trial

Azamat Akhkubekov, one of those accused of attacking power agencies of Kabardino-Balkaria, has sent a petition to the chair of the court Mohamed Tashuev with a complaint against the treatment of defendants during convoying. If the complaint is not satisfied, Akhkubekov is going to refuse from taking part in the process.

It has become known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from well-informed sources that in his petition the defendant made references to Article 3 of the Federal Law (FL) "On Militia" and Articles 5 and 6 of the FL "On Federal Security Bureau", which proclaim principles of respect of human and citizen's rights and freedoms, lawfulness and humanism, and wrote that all this had nothing to do with the way they are treated.

"Thus, on 11.01.08 we were brought to the courtroom bent at the angle of 90 degrees," Azamat Akhkubekov writes.

"Before getting into the courtroom we are searched twice, that is, the MIA employees do not trust the workers of the Corrective Service, therefore after one search we are repeatedly subjected to this humiliating procedure, then for a long time I cannot come to my senses and am strongly nervous, which is incompatible with a concentrated participation in the trial. This is the way we are brought to lunch: militiamen make a sort of a dense corridor and drive us inside like cattle, pushing in the back and shouting. On the way back from the court we are bent down still lower, to be more exact, we are forced to run with our heads at the knee level," Mr Akhkubekov asserts.

He asks the court "to oblige the MIA employees to follow the RF Constitution and respect the honour and dignity of ourselves - citizens of the Russian Federation."