Human rights defenders criticize Albert Khamkhoev's verdict

In the course of judicial investigation, no proofs of Khamkhoev's guilt, accused of possessing weapons, were presented; and the sentence rendered on him is unfair, Timur Akiev, the head of the Ingush office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", believes.

On September 10, a court in Nazran sentenced resident of Ingushetia Albert Khamkhoev to 1.5 year of conditional imprisonment, finding him guilty to possessing firearms. Khamkhoev himself refused to plead guilty and said that he was tortured after his arrest.

"The verdict is unfair, because no proofs of Albert's guilt were presented at the trial; all the proofs referred to by the court are no proofs in fact," Akiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Albert Kuznetsov, a lawyer of the Committee Against Torture (CAT), said that the investigation into torture is protracted.

"The latest investigative actions with the victim were held on August 4; and nothing has been done since then. No indictment has been presented to the suspect," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 11, 2018 at 04:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.