28 July 2021, 09:11
Analysts treat convicted Cheldiev's supporters as victims of crowd effect
The participants in the Vladikavkaz protest action against self-isolation held in April 2020, sentenced to real prison terms, were not known to the public, observers said. In their opinion, the convicts were only like-minded people with Vadim Cheldiev, whom investigators regard as the organizer of the rally.
The court passed a too severe sentence to five participants of the rally in Vladikavkaz, Zaur Farniev, a journalist, and Soslan Bestaev, an MP, believe. Instagram users have called it a "demonstrative whipping."
On April 20, 2020, in Vladikavkaz, law enforcers dispersed opponents of the self-isolation regime, who demanded the resignation of the North-Ossetian government.
According to the court, the defendants put up resistance to law enforcers, who tried to force the protesters out of the square. Gasiev and Tsaritov have fully admitted their guilt, while the rest refused plead guilty in full.
Batraz Kulchiev, an advocate of Vadim Cheldiev, said that his client was not familiar with the protesters sentenced to real terms.
Ruslan Totrov, the editor of the "OsNova" portal, does not treat the convicts as activists either. In his opinion, they became victims of the system.
Alik Pukhaev, a blogger, has also pointed out that the convicts' names had never been mentioned in the media sphere.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 27, 2021 at 07:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Gor Alexanyan Source: CK correspondent
