Defence complains about numerous violations in verdict to Ingush activists

The verdict of the first instance court does not provide evidence of the Ingush activists’ guilt, and the conclusions of the court contradict each other. However, when considering the appeal, the court demonstrates bias against the defendants, and there is almost no hope for an acquittal, advocates Kaloi Akhilgov and Magomed Kuriev note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that since January 13, a trial has been underway in the Stavropol Territory on complaints filed against the verdicts to seven protest leaders in Magas. On May 11, Bagaudin Khautiev, Ismail Nalgiev, and Zarifa Sautieva claimed there was no evidence of their guilt.

Among the materials attached to the case are the characteristics of Bagaudin Khautiev from charitable organizations in which activities he actively participated, advocate Basir Ozdoev notes. The medical certificates of Uzhakhov and Zarifa Sautieva are also attached to the case materials.

There are a lot of “unacceptable” violations in the verdict, which “certainly should lead to the annulment of the verdict,” states advocate Kaloi Akhilgov. According to him, the court of appeal “is not interested in an unbiased consideration of complaints.” As an example, he cited advocates by appointment, whom the court “imposed” on the defendants. Kaloi Akhilgov has compared the verdict against the Ingush activists with the verdicts handed down to citizens during the Soviet era.

The verdict does not correspond to the actual circumstances of the case, advocate Magomed Kuriev emphasizes. He has noted that there are no details about the circumstances of Chemurziev, Nalgiev, Khautiev, and Sautieva joining the extremist community mentioned by the court.

Magomed Kuriev has also emphasized that, despite the investigators’ statements about the alleged creation of the extremist community in May 2018, several of the defendants did not know each other until the autumn of 2018.