Kevorkova: defendant Rasul Kudaev knew nothing about attack on Nalchik

Today, the court that is dealing with the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, has questioned the witnesses invited by the defence of the defendant Rasul Kudaev; among them – Nadezhda Kevorkova, the observer of the "Russia Today".

Ms Kevorkova said that she had met Rasul Kudaev in July 2004, when he was released, among seven Russians, from the Guantanamo Prison for lack of crime attributes in their actions. She said that in the course of communication with Kudaev she noticed that it was difficult for him to stand. "Then I learned that an American bullet sits in his hip. He was weak and was going to take treatment."

According to her story, on October 13, 2005, after learning that there was shooting in Nalchik, she began calling Rasul Kudaev on the phone. She managed to talk with his brother, not with Kudaev himself. At that time, Kevorkova worked for the "Gazeta" edition.

When answering the advocates' question on whether Kevorkova made a report on the events in Nalchik, the witness said that after Rasul's arrest she wrote a note. "We, the journalistic community, had information that the suspects were tortured. We published some photos before and after the torture," she said.

When asked how she got those photos, Kevorkova replied that she received them from some female journalist from Nalchik, whose name she did not disclose.

The today's witnesses also were the villagers from Khasanya Lydia Temmoeva, Akhmat Shavaev and Maria Kalabekova. They testified that on that day they saw Rasul Kudaev in Khasanya at funeral.