21 March 2017, 04:05
Court rejects Usmanov’s request to check torture allegations
The advocates of Abdurakhman Usmanov, accused of links with the “Islamic State” (IS), have submitted five motions asking to check his reports of torture, applied to him during the preliminary investigation. Four motions were rejected. The court agreed only to interrogate the Usmanov’s cellmate, who could see traces of torture on his body.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 6 Usmanov said that he had given his confessions under torture.
The only motion satisfied today by the court concerned the summoning of Gadjigusein Khabibov as a witness. This man was kept in Makhachkala in one cell with Usmanov, and, according to the latter, saw traces of burns and beatings on his body.
"The defence believes that the basic principles of legal proceedings have been violated, namely, competitiveness and equality of the parties. The trial has a clearly one-sided nature. We will consider a possibility to challenge the panel of judges," said the advocate Alexander Yaroshenko.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Valery Lyugaev Source: CK correspondent
