Pyotr Zaikin: Murad Amriev's refusal of legal aid not related to jurisprudence

Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate of Murad Amriev, world champion in MMA, who was brought to Grozny after his extradition from Belarus, has explained his client's decision to refuse the defender by the fact that he himself had been painfully perceived by officials in Chechnya since the Ruslan Kutaev's case. Murad Amriev came to a compromise with law enforcers "on the basis of the local law."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 10, Murad Amriev claimed that he was giving up the services of Pyotr Zaikin, his hired advocate, representing the "Committee for the Prevention of Torture".

"I represented the interests of Ruslan Kutaev. And my person is rather painfully perceived by top-ranking Chechen officials," noted the advocate.

Pyotr Zaikin has added that he had "excellent relations with Murad Amriev," and he has called the very decision to be "well-judged."

The advocate has also added that there are no grounds for criminal proceedings against Murad Amriev because of the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal responsibility.

Murad Amriev was detained in Belarus because he was wanted on suspicion of using a forged document. The athlete said that his passport issued in the Chechen Republic contained an error in indication of his year of birth, which he failed to correct it in time because of the hostilities in the republic. On June 9, it became known that Murad Amriev was brought to Chechnya, and later, Igor Kalyapin, the leader of the "Committee for the Prevention of Torture", reported the release of the athlete. The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) denied the blood feud motives in the Murad Amriev's case.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.