18 February 2016, 04:01
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's advocates announce their withdrawal from trial
Defenders of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, sentenced to death sentence for organizing the terror act during the marathon in Boston, have filed papers to withdraw from the trial. New advocates are offered to defend the convict.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 25, 2015, in Boston, the court announced the death sentence to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and after that the convict was transferred to a maximum security prison in the state of Colorado. On July 11, the Middlesex District Attorney in Massachusetts demanded to sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the murder of a policeman.
On February 17, the advocates who defended Dzhokhar Tsarnaev officially notified the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that they would no longer represent the interests of the convict. They have explained that it is too expensive and inconvenient for them to travel to Colorado to meet Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The convict agrees with such a decision made by his advocates, the "TASS" reports today.
It is planned to involve other advocates to defend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Former defender Judy Clarke will bring them up to date and then also withdraw from the trial.
According to the documents, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is not able to pay for advocates' services. Till present, there is no information whether the new advocates agree to work on a pro bono basis or their services will be paid by the state, the "Kommersant" reports.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.